Heroes Never Fail Highschool
by Electric-angel-wings
Summary: Angela Zeigler wasn't expecting to be approached by one of the most loved football players: Fareeha Amari.
1. Chapter 1

The clouds hung low, heavy and dark with chilly October rain.

Like many high schools, lazy days were common but this day felt especially lazy. Many of the teachers cut their lessons short about a half an hour, assigned homework for the class, and then retreated to their desks to sit and attempt to look busy when they really were trying to rest. The students dozed in class and watched the hazy horizons from outside their windows, placing their chins in their hands and following the drops of water as they pattered and slid down the window panes. A combination of the sound of gentle droning from the rainfall outside and the occasional student shifting in their seats or the sudden clearing of a throat lulled a few unfortunate students to sleep, in which the teacher would snap themselves out of their own daze to shout at them to wake up, startling the whole class. A few moments later, everything would be as it was before, and the dozing student would be back asleep.

At lunch, the usual loud voices that came from every corner of the room were oddly hushed. There was something about the greyness and the patter of rain outside that reminded one's self of their own exhaustion.

The gymnasium before study hall was full of nothing but an occasional shout of the gym teacher and a cacophony of squeaks of sneakers and panting from sleepy students as they did their laps. Study hall consisted of students with their heads hidden behind crossed arms set on the table. By the time the final bell rang, the students dragged themselves from their seats and moved out into the hallways to grab their things and head for home. Naps were simply waiting to be had by all.

Angela Zeigler was much more tired than she usually was. Despite this, she went out of her way to walk down the hall in the opposite direction of the front door. She nodded to a few acquaintances and waved at others, smiling all the while. When she reached her destination: the nurses office, she looked over her shoulder to see if anyone in particular had followed her…but no one paid her mind. She ducked into the room and closed the door behind her.

"Angel? Is that you?" came a tired voice from the back of the room.

"Yes, Ana!" Angela replied, immediately perking up at the nickname the old nurse had given her, "I came to say hello and...goodbye!" she giggled.

The nurse stood from her seat at the back of the room and walked around the curtain separating her from the view of the door. As she came into sight, Angela helped her with putting her bag securely over her shoulder and the retired nurse smiled happily.

"Thank you for coming to see me, Angel." Ana said, patting her shoulder, "I really do appreciate your company, you know. The cold season's coming so I might need your help in the office more! Keeping sickness quarantined is harder than you think."

Angela nodded and said, "I know what you mean. Are you doing okay? Do you need me to carry anything for you?"

"No no," Ana chuckled warmly, "Look at you, doting over me. I'M the nurse here! I should be doting over YOU!"

Angela held out her arm for Ana to take and said, "You're only allowed to dote over me if I'm sick or if I broke something!"

Both women laughed lightly and Ana brought Angela into a short hug, patting her cheek when she backed away.

"You're a good girl, Angel. Now go ahead and hurry home!"

"Will do! Have a good day, Mrs. Amari!"

Angela rushed out of the room to catch up with the crowds. Many had already gathered in the front near the school doors, ready to board the busses. Since she lived only a couple blocks away from the high school, she didn't need to take the public bus. They usually were too overcrowded for her. As she reached the front doors, she reached into the pocket on her bag and got her umbrella ready. As she moved through the throng of students and out into the dismal rain, she opened the umbrella and began her walk down the sidewalk, avoiding puddles here and there by gracefully sidestepping left and right.

Angela preferred the sun over the rain, but she could appreciate a good rainy day. It soothed her in a way that many things could not. Walking down the sidewalk, she watched the busses full of her peers driving past her and onwards down the road. She smiled and waved at a few that looked at her from the windows. One of them consisted of her best friend Lena who perked up, only a little, and gave her one of her dashing smiles, pushing some of her short, spikey hair out of her eyes.

Angela would have to call her later. The two didn't really have a lot of time to talk that day since they were too busy with fitting in with the laziness around them. As the busses dispersed and Angela found herself alone on the street, she absentmindedly began to hum and spin her umbrella. Singing in the Rain was definitely an appropriate song for the moment.

Only when she heard the sound of someone clearing their throat behind her did she stop. Angela looked over her shoulder and came face to face with someone's letterman jacket near the chest. When she tilted her head back a bit more, she stared up into two dark brown eyes. She pressed her lips together and her pace slowed down a great deal.

It was Fareeha.

She managed a strangled smile and found herself without anything to say. Angela had heard about Fareeha a lot, but had never really taken the time to look at her all that close. She was the school's football star, the only girl on the team. Angela figured that she was too busy being one of the guys to notice her at all. She was tall, and toned with dark hair and beautifully dark skin. Her face was strangely stern but she looked relaxed and sweet in an attractive balance. All that she had heard of her were good things. Strong, quiet, and noble, Fareeha was a heartthrob throughout every group in the school. Angela fought for something to say while trying to tuck some hair behind her ear without looking nervous.

Fareeha, on the other hand, hadn't been expecting someone like Angela to be the girl she had heard so much about through the strange gossip tunnel systems that went through the school. Smart, pretty, quick to assist anyone with anything; she sounded like your average every day goody-goody. The only thing that made her different was that she looked way above your average high school girl. Her blonde hair was in a messy ponytail high on her head. Her skin was unusually clear and her eyes were such an interesting shade of blue that Fareeha had to hold her gaze a beat longer before letting her eyes fall. She could tell simply by looking at Angela that she was honest and kind. Lena, Fareeha's fiend at their track meets, had talked a lot about Angela and how wonderful she was. She seemed to live up to expectations.

"Hello," the football player said, quietly "I'm Fareeha."

"Oh! I know who you are." Angela replied, "Everyone does! I'm…Angela Zeigler. Junior class. How are you?" it was then that she noticed that Fareeha didn't have an umbrella and her hair was getting damp. Angela took it upon herself to frantically move close to the girl she had just met, taking her hand and handing her the umbrella to hold.

As the shorter girl pressed close to her, Fareeha immediately noticed that she smelled wonderful…

"We can share!" Angela said smiling nervously up at Fareeha, "Don't want you getting wet. We can't have our star of the football team getting sick, can we?"

Fareeha chuckled quietly, "Yeah…Yeah no. I like your voice by the way. Do you sing often?"

Strange line of questioning, Angela thought, but she responded anyway, "Not often around other people, no. I do sing a lot in the shower! I mean, who doesn't!" She mentally kicked herself immediately in embarrassment for bringing up such a subject.

"I sing in the shower all the time! Mom has to calm the dogs down because they think it's a cat screaming outside." Fareeha said so matter-of-factly it was almost like she knew in advance that there would be a reaction from the girl.

Angela then burst into unexpectedly loud laugher and Fareeha smiled down at her. The blonde had a wonderful laugh.

"May I walk you home, Angela?" Fareeha asked politely, holding out her arm for Angela to take.

"Of course." Angela answered, shyly linking her arm with the taller girl's. And with that, the two chatted and introduced each other. Angela knew why Fareeha was so admired and liked only minutes into their first conversation. She listened when Angela talked and didn't rush with her own personal opinion or reply. Angela was so engrossed in their conversation that she didn't notice that they had passed her house a few paces. She turned and halted for a moment, then giggled in telling Fareeha that they had reached their destination. Fareeha began to close the umbrella to give it back to Angela, and the shorter the girl jumped to attention, putting her hands over Fareeha's. She smiled up at her and said, "Please hold onto it until you get home! You can give it back to me tomorrow."

Fareeha smiled and bowed her head respectfully, winking at her. Angela lifted a hand to cover her mouth as she giggled yet again at the strangely noble gesture.

"Thanks a lot, Angela!" Fareeha said, "Hurry inside. I'll see you tomorrow."

And with that, the small girl rushed out from under the umbrella and ran up the porch stairs to her front door where she stopped, waved back at Fareeha who waved in return. She hurried herself inside, closing the door behind her and shivering as the cool air in the house brushed against her wet skin.

"You…" came a familiar voice, "YOU!"

Angela looked around the little house, peering into the kitchen by the door to see her friend Lena sitting at the kitchen table, snacking on Angela's favorite cookies. The blonde tilted her head in confusion, then rubbed her face tiredly, slightly jittery from the conversation before.

"YOU!" Lena jumped from the table, cookie crumbs around her mouth, "You were just walked home by Fareeha Amari! What the hell is up with that!"

"Calm DOWN!" Angela giggled, rushing across the room to grab her hands, "It's not that big of a deal…Amari?" She didn't ask for her last name…So Fareeha must have been the old nurses daughter!

"What are you TALKING about?!" Lena shouted, letting go of her hands and squeezing her arms in excitement, "What did you do to get her to walk with you? Did you ask her before? Did you offer her something? Did you BEG?!"

"No, Lena!" Mercy laughed, shoving her away playfully, "Nothing like that!"

"Then what did you DO!"

"You have to calm down first!" Angela scoffed, sitting down at the table and taking a cookie from the box, "And how did you get here?"

"I saw Fareeha leaving the school and coming up behind you right before I turned the corner down the street and I decided to slip out the emergency exit at the back of the bus." Lena explained, sitting beside her and reaching for another cookie.

"Lena!" Angela shouted, slapping her hand away.

"What?" Lena protested, "Those cookies are good!"

"NO!" Angela laughed, "I mean the BUS! Those things are called emergency exits for a reason!"

"This was an emergency!" Lena insisted, as Angela took a few bites of her cookie, "Tell me EVERYTHING."

"Well since you jumped out the back of a moving bus to get here I might as well tell you." Angela said rolling her eyes while Lena wiggled in her chair excitedly.

Lena was always unpredictable. Angela liked her for that. The two had met when Angela was trying out track and field the year before her sophomore year. Lena had tripped and sprained her ankle during one of the first mock races and Angela had taken charge, immediately propping up her ankle, taking off her shoe, and ordering the girls around her to get a cold compress. She was a bit bossy when she was taking care of someone, but Lena needed to be put in line some times. Her erratic behavior proved a nice balance for Angela's subdued personality. They became quick friends and had been close ever since.

"All we really did was talk about ourselves." Angela said quietly, "She asked me a lot about myself and I asked her lots of questions but she didn't seem to want to talk about herself very much. She was only interested in what I had to say. "

That statement alone was enough to stun Lena to silence for a rare few seconds.

"I thought she was just one of the egocentric jocks!"

"Me too!" Angela said excitedly, "It turns out she's very nice and sweet!"

Lena observed Angela's face as she always did when she talked about the new people she met. She began to grin as she noticed a light blush on Angela's ears. Lena always had a theory about Angela that she kept to herself. She had seen her talk about both boys and girls but when she was talking about someone in particular that she liked very much, a red blush would appear on her ears. Lena had never seen Angela fully blush in their three years as friends, but that day Lena saw the redness on her ears and assumed what she had assumed for a while: Angela liked girls.

She wasn't sure if Angela was Bisexual, nor could she gauge it by how red her ears got when talking about either boy or girl. All Lena knew was that Angela had a crush on the football player.

"So are you two going to talk again soon?" Lena asked.

"Oh! No. I figured it was going to be just a one day only thing. I guess I could try getting her attention at lunch tomorrow if I wanted to, but I assume she'd be busy hanging out with her other friends."

"They're not your kind of crowd, I'll tell you that much." Lena said, rolling her eyes, "Promise you won't be best friends with her instead of me in the future?"

Angela laughed, "As if anyone could ever come before you." She leaned forward and placed a sweet kiss on Lena's cheek before standing up and asking her if she wanted some milk with her cookies.

Lena smiled and nodded enthusiastically.

As Angela poured her and Lena a glass of milk, she thought about the one question Fareeha had asked her that stuck out in their conversation.

"So, uh." Fareeha had said, "Do you have a…somebody you're into?"

"Not right now!" Angela had replied, several questions coming to mind but only one leaving her lips, "Do you have a somebody you're into?"

Fareeha had chuckled at Angela's joke and shook her head, "No!"

What had she meant by that? It was a strange question to ask someone you barely know. Angela felt her ears growing hot again as she thought about it and Lena, at the table, watched as Angela blushed again over her ears. Lena grinned even wider. She must really be over the moon this time. As Angela finished pouring the drinks and putting the milk back in the fridge she sat back down next to Lena and bit her lip.

Angela knew she could confide in Lena, no matter what the situation. She knew how she felt about Fareeha but she couldn't seem to spit it out. She felt like there needed to be some sort of intervention first, and only after that could she explain to Lena her feelings.

"I…have something to ask you." Angela said quietly, surprising herself. She knew at the back of her mind it had to come out some time. Why not now?

Lena became very still and quiet in the next few moments and she began to wonder…was Angela going to come out?

"Yes?"

"I uh…" Angela balked in her sentence for a solid 10 seconds, "…What was our homework for history?" she asked, her ears redder than Lena had ever seen.

"We have to write a 300k paper on the Alamo…are you sure that's all you wanted to ask?"

Angela nodded her head up and down nervously and hid her mouth behind her drink of milk. Lena smiled and decided that it was better to change the subject. Angela wasn't the type to blurt out sudden news about herself. It had to be given on her own terms. And when she did, Lena would do her very best to show her that she was extremely happy for her.


	2. Chapter 2

Everything was back to normal the next day.

Angela walked into the front of the school, not paying any mind to the sounds of loud yelling and clanging of lockers in the hallways. She moved past students who had found places to lean on their lockers and around the doors. Couples said their hellos, friends instantly began to catch up from their night of being apart, and the students who didn't exactly like each other did everything to avoid each other. Such was the morning routine.

Angela approached her locker and used the combination, sliding her backpack off and placing it on the ground. She leaned down, and reached inside to take her books out, and setting them in a compartment at the top of her locker. On the inside of her door there hung a picture of her with her mother and father that she gazed at every morning.

Angela's parents were often away. Her father being an archeologist and her mother being a Nurse training for her RN license, Angela never saw much of them other than an occasional picture or a view of one of them hunched over papers at their desks. Her mother would always be in her bedroom upstairs sleeping, or studying, and her father would always be away, only calling once or twice a week to talk only for a few minutes at a time before he was needed again.

Despite this, Angela loved them both with all her heart, and did everything she could to make sure that neither of them worried about her. Angela was entirely fine with being alone. She preferred it. She didn't mind company, while at the same time she balanced herself with knowing how to live without it.

She reached up and slid out her books for her first class, shut her locker, and began to walk down the hallway towards the cafeteria where she usually met Lena before their classes together. Upon walking into the semi empty room, she began moving towards the dink vending machine by the kitchen door at the far end of the cafeteria. She needed her morning caffeine fix since she missed her morning cup of coffee. Angela pulled a few coins out of her pocket and began sifting around with her thumb to find that she was one short from the amount she needed from her favorite soda. Angela frowned, sighing quickly through her nose and turning away. She jumped hard as she ran into someone behind her.

Angela looked up and clutched her books to her chest, an apology leaving her lips even before she saw who she had bumped into.

"Sorry….G-Genji…" She said slowly.

"Hey, girl." The foreign exchange student said with a grin, "Want me to spot you a quarter?"

"No thank you, seeing as you're always swimming in quarters, lurking around the soda machine just WAITING to spot some poor girl some cash." Angela refused, knowing full well not to play into Genji's games.

Genji had arrived at the High School with his brother Hanzo in Angela's freshman year. He immediately made a name for himself as he showed that his top priority were how many girls he could seduce. By his third month there, the girls had figured out what kind of boy he was and from then on, they treated him as nothing but a funny joke.

Genji scoffed and shook his head, leaning against the machine and crossing his legs, "I just thought I'd help a pretty little thing like you out with some money…"

"If you think that handing out quarters at a vending machine will show girls that you've got money to spend on them, you're nuts. The name's Angela, by the way. Not 'pretty little thing'." Angela said sharply.

"Thanks for giving me your name." Genji smirked, "Can I get your number too?"

As Angela was about to say something witty in response, a voice that had given her butterflies the day before approached from behind, "Angela!"

The student whipped around just a smidge more eagerly than she liked, which earned her a quick mental kick in embarrassment. She then looked up at Fareeha who had approached her cooly from behind, greeting her with a small smile.

"I brought your umbrella." Said the football player, "Give me a second to get something to drink. Wanna come back with me and show me where your locker is?"

Angela didn't object. She nodded happily and watched as Fareeha passed her to buy herself a drink from the machine. Genji watched through narrowed eyes as the football player put in enough coins for two drinks…

The blond smiled as Fareeha held out her favorite kind of soda.

"I see you grab some Dr. Pepper every morning." Fareeha said lightly, as Angela took the can and she opened her own can of Sprite, "Nice choice."

"R-Really! I didn't figure you for a Sprite kinda gal." Angela stuttered.

"Oh, I'm not. I like Rootbeer usually but the machine was out." Fareeha shrugged, "Follow me."

The football player lead Angela from the cafeteria and out into the hallway where many of the girls peered over their shoulders and whispered into each other's ears that Angela Zeigler was walking to her locker with Fareeha Amari and what could that possibly mean.

Fareeha approached her locker and opened it to reach inside and pull out the umbrella from the side pocket of her backpack. Angela couldn't help herself and looked over the taller girl's shoulder to see many pictures of Fareeha with students from her classes and her football team. Angela noticed one picture in particular of a beautiful girl near the bottom of the group of photos. She knew she shouldn't ask about it. She knew it was impolite to prod about someone's personal life. She knew she would most likely get some sort of negative response for asking who that girl was…

"Who is that?" Angela asked, immediately biting her tongue sharply in a shameful reflex to her own question, "Sh…she doesn't look like she goes here?"

"Oh that was my friend from…a while ago. We still talk but she moved away to a different school far away from here." Fareeha replied, closing her locker door and handing Angela her umbrella, "I want to thank you again for lending me your umbrella."

"It's no trouble at all." Angela said, placing some hair behind her ear, "Thank you for buying me soda…"

"No problem." Fareeha smiled.

Both girls fell silent for a moment, awkwardly smiling at one another. Fareeha leaned against her locker and Angela tucked her umbrella under her arm…

"So!" Fareeha began, Angela perking up, "I…wanted to know if you would like to come hang out with me and a couple friends tonight. We're going to the old roller rink down the way."

"A roller rink?" Angela grinned, "What is this the 1970s?"

Fareeha chuckled, "We have fun. I'd like you to come with me."

"W…with you?"

"Yeah!

Angela mentally begged herself not to make things weird by asking the girl what she meant by going 'with' her. She nearly opened her big mouth again to ask why, but Fareeha cut her off with a pleasing request:

"Could you ask Lena if she wants to come too?" Fareeha smiled, "It would be really cool if you both could come. Afterwards if you're hungry, I'll take you out for pizza."

Angela begged herself yet again not to make things weird by asking the girl who she was talking about when she mentioned taking 'her' out for pizza.

"Just me? Or…Lena too?" Angela asked quietly. She had kicked herself mentally so many times within two days she felt bruised.

"O-oh! You want to go with just me?" Fareeha asked.

"I-I-I mean we don't have to go alone!" Angela stammered, "I just didn't know what you meant by…"

"Nah, you can bring Lena if you like." Fareeha said cooly, "Or…would you like to go alone with me?"

If Angela wasn't so naturally composed she would visibly be sweating bullets.

"Lena can come!" Angela said, feeling the sinking disappointment of a lost opportunity in her chest, "When should we meet you?"

"After school in the parking lot. A friend of mine has a car and with some luck we can all squeeze in." Fareeha looked happy that Angela could come. The smaller girl hugged her books to her chest and nodded, feeling more confident that she knew Fareeha enjoyed her presence.

"So…see you after school?" Angela asked.

"Sure thing!" Fareeha answered confidently.

As Angela was about to mention that they should go get lunch together over the weekend, which she was sure was an overstepping of boundaries so early into knowing someone, the bell rang overhead and Fareeha opened her locker again to grab her books. She gave Angela a quick goodbye, and rushed past her to her first period class. The blonde was left in the hallway with butterflies in her stomach and an unasked question at her lips.

She shook her head and began on her way to her first class for the day. She found it odd that she couldn't control her tongue around Fareeha. It was almost like everything she said just spilled out in a nervous muttering mess without any prior thought. That had never happened with anyone before, not even her previous crushes. It was frustrating.

The blonde stepped into her first period classroom and found a seat at the front beside Lena who had already found a place, thinking of ways she could mess with their teacher. Angela set her books down and began telling her friend excitedly about what happened in the hallway. Lena smiled and said, "Sure, I'll come to the roller rink with you guys!" she paused for a moment, then pointed down at Angela's arm, "…Angie, you still have your umbrella under your arm."

First class was homeroom doubled with English class with a stiff man named Mr. Morrison. He had pure white hair that didn't seem thin in the slightest and glasses with very thick, grey rims. He liked to wear camo and heavy jackets with boots. He was the kind of teacher that felt like he should be teaching at Harvard but was stuck at a high school and the students had taken to calling him "soldier" due to his service in war many years ago. He addressed them like an army general talking to boot camp recruits. Nobody particularly enjoyed his class, but nobody hated it since he was known for being merciful with testing and grade curves.

After a stiffly taught lesson, it was on to second period. Angela stopped by her locker to place her umbrella in her backpack with Lena, and then the two shuffled down the hallway to History class. The teacher for U.S. history was a man out of history himself. His name was Mr. McCree and all the girls in the class had made a habit out of doodling him in their note margins. He looked to be in his early thirties, very attractive with a sharp jawline and scraggly beard. He loved to wear flannel shirts of every color with jeans and cowboy boots. McCree was one of the teachers who everyone considered to be cool, and every year, his history class always looked forward to the section in their history books where he would teach about the west in the old days. The year before, he had passed out a bunch of airsoft guns to the class, divided them up into two teams and had them quick draw each other, one from each team. The winning team didn't have to take the quiz for the unit.

Third period was Algebra II, and no one looked forward to it. The teacher, Ms. Liao, was a strict one, never hesitating to fail a quiz or test that wasn't up to her standards. She was a very cold, calculating teacher and everyone disliked her class and she knew it. Angela was an ace at math, but Lena was not, turning their situation into a sort of pity-tutoring one. After so many failed quizzes, Angela felt obligated to help her friend. She had helped Lena so much with Algebra that Lena paid her five dollars an hour as a sort of gag/thank you.

Fourth period, before lunch, was Chemistry. Luckily for Lena, it wasn't all math and mostly terms. The class's teacher, Mr. Winston was a large man with black hair and a nice smile. His thick rimmed glasses were the most notable thing about his as he adjusted them often. He was oftentimes very understanding and asked the students individually how they were doing in his class. If one or a group of students were struggling, he would schedule times to do a lesson over or help the student better understand the course material. Everyone loved Mr. Winston and most did well in his class.

As the bell rang, Angela and Lena began to leave the Chemistry room together. Lena halted as Mr. Winston called for her to stay for a few moments to go over a quiz. Angela told her that she would save a seat for her in the cafeteria and left Lena with her teacher. The short blonde matched the pace of her peers and grabbed her lunch box from her locker, and moved her way down the hall, towards the cafeteria.

Still thinking of what Mr. Winston had tried to teach about how Valence electrons worked in an atom's chemical bond, she swung her lunch box back and forth. She sighed and put it out of her mind to think about what she had to look forward to that night...

"Angela!" Called a quiet voice.

The student knew that voice immediately and turned around to greet her sophomore friend with a big smile.

"Mei! How are you!" Angela grinned.

"Oh I'm just about as good as I can be!" the short girl answered, walking next to Angela and taking her hand, swinging their arms as they walked, "I heard from someone that you were walking with Fareeha this morning!"

"God, word travels fast." Angela sighed, smiling in embarrassment, "It wasn't anything that important. I just needed to go to her locker to take back the umbrella I lent her the day before."

"You lent her an umbrella?" Mei asked, "You mean…she walked you home in the rain yesterday?"

"Why is this such a huge deal to everyone?" Angela asked curiously, "Do you know why it's such a massive bit of news to everyone that a nobody was walking with a somebody around here?"

"It's such a big deal because Fareeha usually does things alone!" Mei answered excitedly, "Outside school walls, Fareeha is a mystery. Nobody's gotten close to her enough to figure her out. She hangs out with her football buddies after school occasionally but asking a girl to join her? Never! She's never walked a girl home before, and she keeps her contact with the girls around here to a bare minimum! Something must be going on here…"

Angela grew silent. If what her friend said was true, then why was Fareeha taking an interest in HER and why not anyone else? The girl thought of herself as someone who was easily forgettable, plain, ordinary, and quiet. None of those traits were attractive to anyone, much less a high school varsity football girl who had most likely talked to almost everyone in their school and others. Why was she the girl Fareeha asked to walk home?

"ANGIE! Angie." Called Lena, rushing up behind the two, passing them a step too far before finally stopping, "Sorry, I'm here. Heyya, Mei. What are you gal's talking about?"

"How Fareeha walked Angela home last night." Mei giggled excitedly.

"Oh my god I know. How crazy is that! I always said our girl was special." Lena said, finding her place on Angela's left side.

"I'm nothing that fantastic." Angela said, pushing some hair behind her ear.

"People have tried to get that girl's attention for years and no one's cracked her but you, Angie." Lena insisted, shaking her head, "And you didn't even ask her to do anything with you! Fareeha did it on her own!"

Then, something beautiful happened.

Lena nearly lost herself in her own joy as he suspicions were confirmed and Mei squeezed Angela's hand as the blonde fully blushed for the first time.

"I-I…You guys are so sweet." Angela said shyly, rubbing her cheek, "B-but…"

As she was about to continue, she felt someone pass her closely on her right side beside Mei. She watched as Fareeha waved at her politely and kept walking. Angela's walk turned into a sort of tense, shocked march and Lena elbowed her hard in the arm whispering, "I TOLD YOU, ANGIE!"

All through lunch period Angela couldn't eat much. She had too many butterflies in her stomach. Mei and Lena just added to all her already nervous thoughts and made her twice as such. She didn't know how she was going to handle herself tonight since she seemed to lose control of her own words when the handsome girl was around. Hopefully Lena being there would help Angela compose herself…or maybe it would make her situation worse. Angela didn't know but as she nibbled at her sandwich, she found herself looking across the room and admiring Fareeha from afar.

Sitting among her football friends and piers, she didn't appear to say much of anything other than an occasional joke to keep the conversation lively. She ate quietly and kept to herself, looking about the room, seemingly lost in her own thoughts. Angela tilted her head and watched as Fareeha smiled at someone and laughed…

"So do you wanna spend the night at my house after we go to the roller rink?" Lena asked Angela, snapping her out of her dreamy reverie.

"Oh! Sure! You still have my pajama's over at your house right?" Angela said, smiling. She was reminded of how much she loved Fridays all over again.

"Of course I do." Lena laughed, "And I have a change of clothes for you for tomorrow!"

The girls had spent so many nights together that they both had outfits and clothes at each other's houses. Most of the time, Lena showed up uninvited and it always helped that they had a change of clothes. Angela and Lena then began to talk about what kind of movie they should watch before bed while Mei quietly finished her lunch.

After lunch hour, it was onto electives. It was a choice between Metal shop, Robotics class, and Computer Science. The most popular of the three was Metal shop since it seemed like it would be an easy class. Many students who signed up for Metal Shop quickly learned otherwise. The teacher was a very short man with a thick beard and a temper to replace the rest of his height. Most of his lessons were shouted and the rest of the time he glared at his students.

Robotics class was taught by a timid man named Mr. Bastion. He preferred the class to call him by his first name rather than his last. He was a very personal, quiet man with a pleasant smile and a relaxing way of speaking. Many of his students daydreamed and fell out of focus in the middle of his class since due to his soothing voice.

Computer Science class had an unusually young teacher. Not many took the class seriously since the girl was about their age. Most of the time was spent goofing off and playing online games for about an hour, competing against the teacher after a very short lesson on the basics of Computer Science. The teacher insisted that everyone call her Diva, even though her real name was Ms. Song.

Angela found herself in Computer science as did Lena, even though Angela knew that she wasn't any good at video games. She was interested in the science, but was given challenges of the non-academic sort on most days. Lena was right at home.

After electives period which let out students of 3 different moods into the hallways, it was Geography. Mr. Lacroix was one of the unfortunate teachers who had to deal with a class of students who knew they were about to get a study hall period. Not many paid attention, but the teacher tried his best to get his lesson across.

Study hall for the juniors was a mix of moods. It would be hyper, it would be quiet, it would be both, but that day, everyone had a reason to be amped up about the weekend. Angela and Lena chatted excitedly about the events to come that night and the blonde watched the clock with impatience.

At the sound of the final bell, Angela's heart began to race and Lena rushed her to her locker and she grabbed her bookbag, running with Lena to grab hers. Both girls smiled excitedly and chatted about how neither of them could skate very well and walked out the back door to the schools parking lot. They caught sight of Fareeha leaning on the side of a beat up 2013 Honda Civic with a group of boys around her. Fareeha spotted the girls and began walking over to greet them.

Angela repeated to herself over and over, "be cool be cool be cool." But when the dashing student approached her, fixating her with those dark eyes and gentle smile, Angela felt herself weakening immediately.

"You guys ready to go?" She asked.

"Yep!" Lena said, "I've never been to the roller rink! Bet you five bucks I'll fall."

"Me too!" Fareeha said, "You're on. I've only been roller skating once or twice, and the only other time I've had roller blades."

"Oh! I've been roller blading" Angela chimed in as Fareeha lead the two to the car, "I'm definitely gonna fall! I feel like roller blading is a bit like ice skating. Don't you think?"

"A little bit." The taller girl replied, putting a hand on Angela's back and opening the trunk, taking Angela and Lena's backpacks to place them inside, "Go ahead and slide in."

Angela moved into the back, finding a seat at the very end. Lena ducked her head in and followed, laughing at something the boys had said to her before she moved in beside Angela. The two boys crammed themselves in behind Lena, which was already one too many for the back seat of a Honda Civic. The cramped quarterback on the very end muttered something about how he was too smashed in the back seat and Fareeha, who was in the passenger seat looked over her shoulder at Angela, noticing how skinny she was…

"Here, get out." Fareeha said to her friend, "Let me get back in there."

"You're not much thinner than I am" The quarterback pointed out.

"I know, just do it!" Fareeha insisted, rolling her eyes, "Angela, you get out for a sec."

Angela jolted in her seat as Fareeha said her name, and got out the same time that the other football player did. Fareeha exited the passenger seat, moved around the car on Angela's side, smiled at her and slid in her seat. Angela began to joke about if they were going to strap her to the top of the car, but she froze as Fareeha reached out her hand and took her by the wrist, moving her into the car and onto her lap.

Lena was beside herself as Angela blushed a deep shade of red and began giggling.

"I suppose that works!" She laughed, too flustered to take the situation seriously. She couldn't clearly process what was going on. She could feel Fareeha's muscular legs beneath her and if she was to lean back at all…

"LETS GO BITCHES!" shouted the boy in the driver's seat. Angela instantly felt like she was in some sort of immediate danger…and she reflexively grabbed Lena's arm as the car thrusted back in reverse, turned towards the road, and jolted forward. Angela felt herself pushed back against Fareeha's chest, beginning to slip off and onto Lena. What she didn't expect was for two, strong arms to wrap around her waist and hold her securely against Fareeha's chest in that position.

"Hold onto the little hand hold up there." Fareeha said close to her ear.

Angela nearly lost her composure and Lena giggled and nudged Fareeha, "Careful! If you squeeze too hard you might snap her in half."

"You are very thin." Fareeha observed, her arms still around Angela's waist, sort of hugging her tightly.

"Th…thanks!" Angela managed.

For the rest of the way to the roller rink, Angela was in a stupor, staring out the window and trying not to get closer to Fareeha or seeming odd in any way. Lena covered for her silence and chatted with Fareeha until they arrived to the building not very far from the school. They pulled into the parking lot and as the driver parked the car, Fareeha let go of Angela's waist saying, "You ready?"

"Yuh. YES!" Angela stuttered, grabbing the door handle and sliding out of her much preferred seat. She was suddenly aware of the warmth that had left her back and she felt her stomach drop in disappointment. Fareeha stepped out and complimented her on her hair, telling her that the shampoo she used smelled lovely as she passed her on her way to the door.

Lena tumbled out after Fareeha and grabbed Angela's hand, whispering in her ear, "Holy crap."

"I-I-I…" Angela stuttered, turning to Lena, her cheeks a rosy pink, "I gotta. I gotta tell you…"

Lena's eyes widened as she saw Angela clearly struggling, overwhelmed with some kind of emotion.

Angela couldn't tell if she was panicking, or sick, or excited. It felt like a combination of all three in a nauseating result and she had involuntarily reached out to her friend without realizing. Her crush was painfully obvious at that point and Angela knew that Lena had some sort of idea as to why she was acting the way she was. She had to tell her some time…maybe now would be a good time and Lena could help calm her down.

"I gotta tell you what." Angela giggled, deciding against telling her then in fear of Lena not having time to process the news, "It was HOT in there wasn't it?"

Lena's face fell for a fraction of a second, then she began to lead Angela inside. If the girl wasn't going to crack soon and come out that she liked Fareeha, Lena was going to make her say it.

The roller rink was a massive room with a large, polished shiny floor in the middle. Around it, there were places to eat with tables and arcade games to play. Angela forgot about how frazzled she had become earlier, and tried to calm down, looking forward to the night ahead. She and Lena followed the football players to the front desk that rented skates.

Angela began fumbling with her back pocket to pull out her wallet so she could pay but she felt a hand rest on her shoulder. Fareeha already had her money out and held enough for two.

"I'll help pay for your skates." She said.

Lena was absolutely floored by Fareeha's behavior. It was almost like she was on some sort of date with Angela and Fareeha was offering to pay and be her seat and…what did this mean? Was Fareeha just being nice? Or was she actually interested in Angela? It was a very big possibility since Lena knew almost nothing about her. Fareeha was a kind, generous person to begin with, but Lena had seen the football girl buy her nervous friend something else that morning as well…

"No I can pay!" Angela said, smiling, "You already bought me something this morning and let me sit on your lap, the least I can do is buy my own skates."

"Alright then." Fareeha smiled, stepping back and letting Angela do her thing. As the man turned to grab her pair of size 7 skates, she heard Fareeha mention her shoe size… and she quickly ordered Fareeha's too. She turned with them in her hands and smiled up at her crush.

"You didn't have to." Fareeha said, "I could pay you back…"

"Just buy me some pizza tonight and we'll call it even!" Angela replied, bending over to slide her skates on. As Lena went to order hers, she watched Fareeha's expression very closely. She had lifted a hand to rub the back of her hair, smiling happily down at Angela.

Lena ordered her skates and followed the two as they moved towards the floor in the middle or the room. Angela turned around, looking through the crowd for her friend. Lena waved at her and gestured for her to go ahead without her. Angela paused, looked up at Fareeha and then back at her best friend. She left the taller girl's side and wobbled up to Lena who had been guiding herself towards the entrance by pulling herself forward on the tables and chairs.

"You doing okay?" Angela asked, taking her hands.

"Oh I'm just peachy." Lena sighed, deciding that she should prepare Angela for an interrogation later, "We have to talk about something soon, okay? Not now, but I have something to ask you."

Angela's stomach dropped and she clenched her jaw, not listening as Lena insisted for it not to ruin her night tonight. She knew that she had no problems with Lena so it must be about something else. Lena needed to have Angela tell her what she was feeling.

"Go have fun." Lena insisted, "Hurry she's about to go out onto the rink."

"No I wanna hang out with you too." Lena said, refusing to let go of Lena's hands.

At this point, Lena was frustrated that Angela hadn't trusted her enough to tell her about her crush while being so obvious about it. Did she think she wouldn't notice? She forced a smile and said, "If I had Fareeha Amari willing to take me out for roller skating and pizza I'd be out there with her. She's looking for you anyway."

"Lena, what's going on?" Angela demanded, "I don't care who's taking me out for skating and pizza, something's bothering you…"

"Please, Angie. We'll talk about it later." Lena said, smiling, "It's nothing to worry about, I promise. Now GO!" she giggled, nudging Angela towards the rink. The blonde sighed in defeat, turning around and wobbling back towards Fareeha. Lena took a moment to calm herself down before rolling after her.

Seeing one of the most popular people in her high school having trouble with roller skates was possibly the funniest thing Angela had ever seen. Fareeha clutched the sides of the roller rink with all her might and sort of shuffled forward while Angela skated beside her. The blonde wasn't any better, but she was a fast learner and she had ice skated before so it was the same concept but slightly different. She giggled as Fareeha tried to salvage her dignity by standing upright, but all that would result was her slipping again and grabbing back onto the pole.

"Having trouble?" Angela teased.

"No I'm having a GREAT TIME." Fareeha shouted as she slipped again, "Would you believed I've been here before but never went out onto the rink?"

"What were you doing then?" Angela asked.

"I was over in the arcade playing games." Fareeha answered, managing to stand up slightly and turn towards Angela, looking triumphant.

"Very good," Angela said, "Now try moving forward…"

Fareeha nodded and tried to slide towards the blonde. Angela knew Fareeha was about to fall immediately as she saw her weight begin to shift unnaturally towards her. She pressed her back to the railing and reached out to grab Fareeha's arm, turning her towards her. Angela's eyes snapped open in surprise as she felt Fareeha fall into her. The taller girl's face buried into the crook of her neck and Fareeha threw her arms around Angela's chest, holding her tightly to support herself, then becoming very still.

Angela's heart, and her world had seemed to stop for a mere moment as she felt Fareeha hesitate…

"Oh my god I'm sorry." Fareeha laughed, moving away from her and grabbing the rail, "Are you okay? I can't believe you were able to catch me and hold me up."

Angela was more than okay.

"I'm okay!" Angela said in a strangled voice, "Let's keep trying to teach you how to skate."

For the rest of their time on the rink, Angela felt like they were in their own little world. Fareeha wasn't talking to anyone else, and Angela completely forgot about Lena and the people who had driven them there. It was only she, Fareeha and her goofy side that seemed to be coming out. Angela had never felt so happy in all her life…

"Hey Angie!" Lena called from across the ring. Angela looked over Fareeha's shoulder and grinned as Lena approached her.

"Whats up!" Angela greeted her.

"It's getting pretty late and the boys are talking about heading home."

Both Angela and Fareeha looked confused. It felt like they had just arrived. Angela then saw the time on a clock overhead and noticed that it was a half an hour before closing time.

"I guess we should head out then." Fareeha said.

Angela didn't want the night to end, she was having too much fun. As the three wobbled back to the exit to the rink, Angela stuttered, "H-hey…this was fun. I'm glad you invited me."

"Me too." Fareeha said, "We should hang out together again soon."

"How about for lunch on Sunday?" Angela spat out without thinking.

Lena listened closely from ahead.

"I usually don't have plans on Sundays but let me check my schedule anyway." Fareeha said politely, "Oh! I don't have your number."

"Do you have your phone on you?" Angela asked, her heart beating quicker by the minute.

Fareeha answered her question by pulling out her phone and opening a new contact. Angela gave her number and as they reached the end of the rink, Fareeha put her number in her phone and went to give Angela hers.

The friends all gathered by the front entrance, and they went back to the car. Lena moved in beside the boy she had sat by when they first got in the beat up car, and Fareeha sat beside her, holding out her hand for Angela. This time, the blonde sat down confidently and felt comfortable enough to lean back against Fareeha, even before the car started moving.

Lena gave the driver instructions to her house and the whole way home she watched silently as Angela and Fareeha talked about nothing together, seemingly in a world of their own. Back at the roller rink, she had seen Fareeha trip and land on Angela on accident. Lena had felt a sort of sad happiness as she saw a look on Angela's face unlike she had ever seen before. She looked so happy…

As they reached Lena's house, Fareeha helped Angela to her feet and followed the girls to the trunk so they could grab their things. The football girl lifted a hand to rub the back of her head as she looked down at Angela who grabbed her book bag, slung it over her shoulder and looked up at her with an admiring expression…

"I'll text you…" Fareeha said, "About Sunday."

"Can't wait!" Angela replied, kicking herself mentally once again for sounding too eager, "I'll see you soon."

"Yeah! Goodnight…and goodnight to you too, L!" Fareeha said as Lena took Angela's hand and began to lead her towards the house.

"Night, ya big doof!" Lena called over her shoulder as she shoved Angela in the door as she waved at Fareeha, slamming it behind her in frustration.

"Jeez, Lena." Angela said, still in a giddy trance, "Why so rough?"

"Okay, you're gonna tell me exactly what's going on with you and Fareeha." Lena demanded, nothing but business, "Don't tell me you think you haven't been obvious enough for me to notice."

Angela's chest tightened as she came down from her happiness high from that evening. She sighed very slowly, calming herself down and placing her backpack on the floor next to Lena's and lifting a hand to rub her eyes nervously.

"Is your family around?" Angela asked quietly, her good mood replaced with panic.

"They're on vacation, Angie." Lena said, calming herself down, "Let's go to my room anyway. Would that make you feel better?"

The blonde nodded shyly and Lena passed her.

The walk to her best friends room seemed very slow. Angela didn't know what to think of Lena's angry, shouted suspicions a few moments ago. She knew that Lena must have suspected something and it made her feel closed off even more that she was being interrogated now of all nights. The blonde respected her friend nonetheless…she would tell her tonight and hope that their friendship would remain the same.

Lena opened her door and led Angela inside, closing it behind her and sitting on her bed, crossing her legs. She waited for a few moments before saying anything else.

"Tell me what's going on." Lena demanded more gently this time, "I noticed that something weird was going on the day Amari walked you home yesterday. I was able to tell something weird was going on when you talked to me about that nice girl at the bookstore you met last month too. And the week before that with the girl from the sandwich shop!"

"W-well…" Angela began, backed into a corner, "I…let me start off with saying that you're very perceptive."

Lena's expression didn't change and that unnerved Angela a great deal.

"I…I really hope that you won't think less of me if I tell you that I…"

Lena stared at her hard.

"You're not making this easy."

"I know I know." Lena sighed, "I know what's going on with you, it's so obvious and I'm upset you're even the slightest bit worried about me judging you for it. You know me, Angie."

"D-Don't take it personally!" Angela stuttered, holding out her hands, "It's nothing against you! It's just m-me being weird."

"You know you could tell me anything and I wouldn't care…" Lena said gently.

"I like Fareeha." Angela blurted.

"No shit, Sherlock."

Lena stood up and put her arms around Angela, holding her tightly in a comforting hug. Angela hugged her back in relief as Lena giggled, "You nerd."

The two finished their hug and Angela went on to talk about her feelings a bit more, persuaded by Lena to be more open. By the end of their conversation they realized they were very hungry, so they left the house and walked to a nearby 24 hour café. About halfway into their meal, both girls remembered what Fareeha had said about taking them to pizza. It was already too late to invite her out again, however.

Angela couldn't stop thinking about the roller rink, even as she and Lena fell asleep that night. She didn't know what Sunday would bring, but she hoped she could see Fareeha again soon.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Hey all of you lovelies. I'm sorry this chapter was posted a bit late. I've been sort of couch hopping here and there due to family issues but I somehow found the time to get the chapter out! I hope the length and extra cute parts make up for the wait. Enjoy! :)

Angela pushed open the glass door to the quaint little restaurant and adjusted the strap of her purse over her shoulder. She fixed her hair and nervously looked around to see if Fareeha had already seated herself.

While Angela was out the day before, window shopping at a nurse uniform shop, she received a text on her phone. Assuming that it was from Lena, it was a pleasant surprise to see that Fareeha had texted her instead. She told her that she was definitely available for lunch on Sunday. Angela took it upon herself to rush to the store adjacent to the one she had been window shopping in to find a new outfit for the lunch date. At the end of the day she had settled on a new pair of ripped denim jeans and a cream colored sweater complimented by a red scarf with some brown boots that came up to her knee. Angela had gone out of her way to send a picture to Lena before buying it to which Lena had responded that she was sexy. Angela hoped she was right.

Angela leaned against the wall and pulled out her phone, pretending to look relaxed when in reality she was texting Lena frantically: "IT DOESN'T LOOK LIKE SHE'S HERE. SHOULD I LOOK?"

Lena's response speech bubble popped up a few seconds later: "I think you should just wait at the door."

Angela sighed through her nose and texted back: "But what if she's here?"

Lena texted, "Okay, girl, you need to chill. Trust me, you can't do anything wrong here, it's just you two meeting up for some lunch to get to know each other. It's not like you're scoping her out for a potential wife or anything." Angela sighed again and looked around for a few moments before looking down at her phone again as it buzzed and dinged with a new message from Lena: "….Yet."

"Hello, Angela!" Fareeha greeted her as she pushed the door open beside her, nearly slamming the smaller girl into the wall on accident.

"Hi!" Angela said, jumping out of the way of the door, "Oh my….You pushed that thing like it was nothing!"

"I uh…I forget my own strength sometimes." Fareeha said, embarrassed, "Why don't we find ourselves a seat? I know the owners here!"

Angela found that extremely attractive. As she followed Fareeha to a small booth near the back of the small restaurant, Angela played with her phone in her hands. Fareeha let Angela sit first, and she followed after. They were met by a waiter who seemed to know Fareeha by name. The taller girl greeted him politely and began a small conversation much to Angela's relief. It wasn't very often that someone else had the pleasure of breaking the ice. Angela looked through the menu absentmindedly, flipping through the pages, looking up shyly to watch Fareeha talking. She loved the way her lips turned up in a smile…

"This is my friend Angela." Fareeha introduced her to the waiter, "Do you know what you'd like to drink?"

"Water is fine." Angela replied without thinking, hoping that no one caught her staring at Fareeha like she was, "And it's very nice to meet you!"

"Likewise!" said the waiter, I'll give you two a moment to decide on what you'd like today." He turned and walked away from the booth, leaving the two girls alone. Angela watched as Fareeha opened the menu, looking happily at the selection. She seemed to be a person who enjoyed simple things…

"Do you know what you're getting?" Angela asked after a few moments of silence, hoping to break the silence that she hoped wouldn't turn awkward, "I might get the Turkey bacon and cheddar…what about you?"

"Oh that's a good one!" Fareeha said, "I do love the Rachel sandwiches here but you just can't compete with Reuben."

Angela was confused, "A Rachel sandwich?"

"Yeah!" Fareeha said smiling, "A Rachel is almost exactly like a Reuben but instead of corned beef it has turkey!

Angela smiled at her enthusiasm, "Well, both sound delicious!"

"I come here a lot since it's the only place that can actually make me feel full." Fareeha said, rubbing the back of her head, "I should mention that this place is very generous with their portion sizes."

The smaller girl giggled and doubted the portion size secretly until her food was actually placed in front of her. He turkey and cheddar was a MASSIVE sandwich with fried pickles on the side and a toothpick right down the middle. Fareeha laughed at Angela's genuinely startled expression.

"What do you think?" Fareeha asked excitedly.

"I think…I think I'm gonna need a box!" Angela replied, receiving another quiet laugh from Fareeha. It felt good to make her laugh. It made Angela's heart flutter. Everything about Fareeha seemed so genuine, like there was no need to hide anything about who she was. Fareeha seemed to be an open book, and Angela wanted to read every page.

As the two began to eat, Fareeha mentioned her mother fondly, thanking Angela for keeping her company during the football games and other game days. Angela mentioned how sweet Ana was and that she wanted to be a nurse and finally a doctor when she graduated High School. Ana was always wonderful company, and she had taught Angela a lot already since she used to be an RN nurse when she was younger. Angela slowly began to relax more and more as the conversation went on. It was always a wonderful feeling to figure out how to talk to someone, reaching a point where conversations were easy and seamless. Fareeha had already been as relaxed as could be and secretly felt pleased that Angela was beginning to get used to her.

By the time the shorter girl was halfway done with her sandwich, she felt full, sitting back in her seat and laughing, "I DO need a box!"

"Me too!" Fareeha smiled, lifting her hand, "Waiter!"

The two put their food in boxes and grabbed a bag, leaving the restaurant, still talking happily. The two went for a walk back to Fareeha's house that was just up the road. As they began their way up the incline in the road, Angela asked Fareeha what she wanted to be when she finished High School. The taller girl thought for a moment, scratching her cheek. She looked forward as she explained that her passion was being a good person. She was also interested in enrolling in the military. As soon as Angela heard this she felt something in her chest sink. She wanted a relationship with her…and if that was to come to be, Fareeha would only go away into the military.

"But y'know…" said the taller girl after a moment's pause, "If I found a nice person to settle down with I might rethink that and focus on security work in cities."

Angela's eyes widened slightly, "A nice person, huh?" She liked the sound of local security work…

"Yeah! I always had a thing for blondes." Fareeha responded.

Angela's heart began to pound. Blondes? She was a blonde! A blonde boy or girl? Would it be strange to ask what her preference was? Was that a weird thing to ask anymore?

"I did date this girl a while back." Fareeha continued, "but she moved away. I don't know if she even remembers me. It was an experimental thing, but I'm not sure if I could date a girl again. She was straight…straight girls will break your heart."

Angela was near hyperventilating with this news.

Fareeha looked down at her curiously and reached over to pat her back in concern, "Are you okay?"

Angela coughed and giggled nervously, "YES! I uh…Sorry. Asthma." That was one hell of a lie, "I'm okay. I have a little attacks here and there…I'm sorry that happened to you though. I'm sure she doesn't have any clue what she could have had."

Fareeha slowed down for a moment and blinked, "Thanks Angela….that was really nice of you."

Angela sighed, trying to get her breathing under control. Hearing that Fareeha dated girls at all was a major weight off of her wondering mind. Angela felt a shiver down her spine as she heard Fareeha's voice reach a tone she had never heard before. It was soft and sweet and sincere…she wanted to hear it again.

"Well…I mean it." Angela said, smiling.

"Are you into girls too?" Fareeha asked, putting her hand in her pocket.

"Yes!" Angela answered, unafraid, "I like guys too…sometimes. If they're nice. Nobody from our school though."

"Yeah the guys at our school aren't the best." Fareeha rolled her eyes, "They're all typical bro's who have cock fights in the locker rooms after games."

Angela quickly turned her head to look up at Fareeha in surprise. Was that resentment in her voice?

"Sorry!" Fareeha quickly replied in embarrassment, "I didn't mean to say that. I just aren't as fond of them as everyone thinks I am. You'll keep this a secret right?"

"Of course." Angela said, reaching out to take her arm absentmindedly. Fareeha believed her.

They continued to walk, the cool air bringing them close together. Angela comforted her, telling Fareeha that it was okay to not like her football team very much. The taller girl found a comfort in Angela that felt unique and honest. It was a nice change, and Fareeha enjoyed watching Angela's hair whip in her face occasionally due to the slight breeze. Every time Angela would wrinkle her nose up and push her hair out of her eyes and behind her ear.

They reached Fareeha's house after and the taller girl invited Angela in to which the blonde accepted wholeheartedly. Stepping inside, Angela shivered from the cold and moved further into the home. Fareeha lead her into the kitchen to where Angela saw Ana sitting at the dinner table with a cup of tea and a book. Fareeha greeted her nonchalantly, heading right for the fridge and Ana said quietly, "How did it go with Angela?"

"Fine!" Angela replied for her new friend.

Ana perked up and turned around in her chair, smiling happily to see Angela, "Angel!"

Fareeha thought it was cute that her mother knew Angela well enough to call her something like that. She watched as Angela rushed to her and opened her arms for a hug. Fareeha grabbed an apple and leaned back against the fridge as her mother and Angela embraced, taking excitedly about the game they knew was coming up next week on Wednesday. When there were game days, Angela and Ana were always together on the sidelines.

"Hey…" Fareeha interjected, "You better watch out for me, you two! We're playing the Talons this week."

"We will." Angela giggled while Ana rolled her eyes.

"You've sprained more ankles in one year than your entire team in their entire football career." Ana said flatly, "We'll be watching you."

"No need to rub it in, ma." Fareeha said in embarrassment.

"Can I give you a ride home?" Ana asked Angela who nodded quietly in response, "Good then! Unless you two wanted to spend more time together."

Angela certainly wanted to, but she looked at Fareeha and smiled, shrugging, "It's up to you!"

Fareeha thought for a moment before saying, "We'll get together again soon. I hope to see you at the game…"

"Look out for me!" Angela replied, "I'll be by the benches with some water for you to come say hi."

"Tell me everything." Lena said immediately into the phone as she flipped through her Geography book in bed, barely paying attention to the material at all.

"I just….I really like her." Fareeha replied, sitting back on her bed, "She's so sweet and pretty. Her hair is so nice and I love how she pulls it up into a pony tail. She's got the most beautiful blue eyes and her hands are so cute. Her skin is so flawlessly perfect I just want to touch her."

Lena giggled and kicked her feet with joy, "Tell me more, you dork!"

"She's…I don't know. I let on today that I liked girls but I'm not sure she caught it. I don't want to be too obvious with her you know?"

"With Angela, you sort of have to be obvious." Lena chuckled, "Wednesday at the game, ask her what her type of girl is, okay? I'm sure she'll give you a direct description of you. I promise."

Fareeha lifted a hand and sighed, running her fingers through her hair as she attempted her Algebra homework while trying to manage her thoughts about Angela. She always had trouble with that class, and she was meaning to talk to her mother about a tutor since it was her worst class and she needed to have a higher than average grade in every class in order to compete in sports.

"Hey." Fareeha asked Lena over the phone, "Do you know anyone who's good at Algebra that isn't an idiot that could help me?"

Lena grinned as she wrote down an answer on her paper, "Call Angela."

"What?" Fareeha asked, "She's good at Algebra?"

"The chick has straight A's on her report card and she hasn't gotten below a B in the iron maiden's class."

"Wow…pretty, kind, and smart." Fareeha sighed.

"The whole package." Lena confirmed with a grin.

Fareeha had always noticed Angela. It was a reoccurring presence in her day to day life. Who couldn't notice Angela? She had such an endearing air about her. She always seemed so gentle and serene. She was confident in herself, yet, vulnerable enough to be wooed and handled properly romantically. Ever since Fareeha's mother mentioned her at the beginning of her Junior year, Angela in the Sophomore year, she had taken an interest in the girl. First, it was only because she wanted a friend, but she quickly found a friend in Lena as the two spent a lot of time in track meets.

Soon after, she heard more and more from Lena, Fareeha began watching Angela day by day. It was an occasionally glance here and there since she didn't want to be creepy after all. She simply noticed her as she ate her lunch and sat with Lena and her Sophmore friend Mei. The way she ran in PE was adorable and Angela threw balls like such a girl. The only thing she seemed to be physically good at was dodgeball. Fareeha had received an impressive mark on her thigh from when Angela targeted her from a distance once.

Fareeha's feelings for Angela blossomed into a crush the day she saw the girl sitting by herself in the bleachers, doing some homework early, looking up occasionally to watch the football practice going on. Angela's eyes were so blue, they stood out among the pale grey of the bleachers. It was a like a piece of sky had fallen and manifested itself in Angela's beautiful eyes. Fareeha wanted to take her and press her against the wall and kiss her breathless. She wanted to put her on her shoulders and carry her around and give her things and do her every bidding just for the simple reward of her happiness and appreciation. She wanted Angela to kiss her cheek like she had seen her kiss Lena's so many times.

"I'm telling you." Lena said quietly, "You should make a move soon."

"I'll…try something on Wednesday." Fareeha replied, "I know mom would love it if I brought her home for real. Angela told me her parents aren't around often so…we could be together a lot."

"It's a perfect situation." Lena said, putting her pencil in between her teeth, flipping a page in her book, "You're the man, Fareeha. You can totally get her. I don't even know why you need me to tell you that!"

Fareeha smiled and tilted her head. She appreciated Lena's kindness a lot.

"I've got to go for now, L." Fareeha said, "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Remember." Lena said, catching her mid hang up, "Call Angel. She'll help you with Algebra."

"Will do!" Fareeha replied, "Goodnight, Flash."

"Goodnight, you giant lug."

Both girls hung up the call and Lena closed her geography book, setting it aside. She had known for a while how Fareeha felt about Angela, and she had seen Angela's slow development of admiration to a cute then steaming crush on Fareeha. Both were so perfect for each other and Lena adored them with all her heart. She wanted them to be happy, and wouldn't mind being a third wheel if it meant she got to see both of them together. She wasn't sure if she was going to find anyone else like Angela ever again, and she wanted to make sure that she had the absolute best. Fareeha was a quiet sweetheart with a fantastic eye for women and Lena loved that about her. Lena had thought many times of how both of them would fit together...almost like puzzle pieces, made for each other. She picked up her phone and slid under the covers, pulling up Angela's contact, opening a new message to send her: "Hey, Angel cake. How the heck are ya!"

Angela, who had been near sleeping woke up to a quick text tone on her phone, but then the phone continued to vibrate annoyingly against her pillow. Angela picked up her phone, thinking it was Lena, accepted the call and put it to her ear, "Hey, you." She sighed, her sleepy voice prominent, "Whatcha up to this late? You hold off on homework again, silly?"

Fareeha, who was on the other line, bit her lip, letting herself blush deeply since she was alone. Angela sounded so cute and groggy…was she sleeping?

"I uh…" Fareeha said, the smile obvious through the phone, "I'm not Lena, but I did hold off on my homework."

Angela jumped to attention upon hearing the smooth voice on the other end, rubbing both of her eyes and grabbing her phone tightly, "OH! FAREEHA! HI!" She couldn't help but yawn tiredly, "Whats…Mm. What's up? Are you okay?"

"I'm sorry I didn't mean to wake you." Fareeha said, setting her head in her hand, her eyes half closing, "I wondered if you could…help me understand some things in our Algebra homework. I know you're good at it, and the teacher is tough. Lena said you're a good tutor!"

Angela broke out into a small smile upon the mention of Lena, "Yes! I can help you with your homework. Whenever you need me, I can help, okay?"

"M-hm!" Fareeha smiled, lifting a hand to rub the back of her head, "Thanks a lot by the way…"

"For what?" Angela asked.

"Well just…joining me for lunch and everything."

Angela played with her sheets, "I was the one who asked YOU! So I should be thanking YOU!"

Fareeha leaned into the phone, Angela's sleepy voice instilling an affection in her chest that felt alarmingly real, "I'll let you go then." Fareeha said, "You sound sleepy. We can work something out tomorrow at school if we see each other. I also just…wanted to call and say goodnight."

"Oh!" Angela asked, feeling very giddy, "Well goodnight to you too!"

"See you tomorrow." Fareeha said.

"Night night." Angela replied sleepily.

"Hold on one second." Fareeha said quickly…

Angela had already hung up.

The blonde had set her phone down by her pillow and curled up under her warm blankets, reaching over to her night stand and turning the light off, closing her eyes and drifting off into a gentle sleep. Fareeha stared at her phone for a few moments before setting it down and running her fingers through her hair.

The next day at school, both girls met each other in the cafeteria before school. Fareeha bought Angela some pop, both of them ignoring Genji, hoping that he would finally get the hint that his current method of skulking around the vending machine wouldn't work. Angela smiled a lot while Fareeha looked genuinely confused at her paper while she explained the process of problems a bit easier. Fareeha tapped her pencil on the table and licked her lips in thought. Angela received a flush of heat every time. Lena sat on the other end of the table, pretending to rest her head before classes started, but she really was looking through her spiky hair to watch as the two seemed to get along extremely well.

"I'm getting frustrated." Fareeha said, setting her pencil down.

"It's okay!" Angela said comfortingly, picking up the pencil, "Lets try one more time and if you can't get it, let's take a break to rest your mind. Sometimes when you think too much you fry out!"

Fareeha laughed at the expression and Angela placed her pencil in her hand, "Let's start from the beginning."

By the time the first bell had rung, Angela had helped Fareeha complete all her due homework for that day. Fareeha would normally have quit without Angela's help, and she found herself getting a second wind with her around. She was so encouraging and sweet that Fareeha couldn't help but give it another try every time she felt herself giving up.

Angela thought Fareeha was so handsome and focused. Her dark eyes were always fixated on the paper as Angela was speaking and whenever she got frustrated or was thinking very hard, she happened to lick her lips. Angela had the urge to lean closer every time…

School that day went slowly. Mondays usually went at a snail's pace. No one focused on the material and instead decided to focus on the clocks. Fareeha fell asleep in Chemistry and Mr. Winston allowed her about 15 minutes before he shouted at her to wake up. Angela helped a frustrated Lena in Algebra.

At Lunchtime Angela, Mei, and Lena all sat together in silence, enjoying each other's company. About halfway through the hour, they suddenly felt a presence at the end of the table. Lena tilted her head back to look up at who had come by and her face went pale.

It was Amélie, the French student. She was born American, but her family spoke traditional French so her accent was always very thick. She never could seem to find a niche to fit in among the students and she looked sullen for the majority of her time there. Her hair was long and black, tied high in a ponytail away from her face, and her dark eyes were complimented by a glittery purple eye shadow. She wore purple clothes often and seemed to love the color. No one knew much about her, and frankly, many of them were slightly intimidated by her height and demeanor.  
"Can I help you?" Lena asked.

Amélie looked like she was thinking very hard for a moment, then she reached out and took Lena's hand, pulling a pen out of her pocket and writing down a series of numbers on her palm. Angela and Mei looked on with slight concern. Lena took her hand back and looked at her hand. A phone number?

"You want me to call you?" Lena asked again.

"I would like you to ask me out on a date this Wednesday to the football game." Amélie replied in her thick accent.

Angela's mouth fell open slightly and Mei choked a bit on her food while Lena just stared blankly up at the lanky girl who wouldn't seem to look away from her.

"I uh…I." Lena stuttered.

"Shh." Amélie said, leaning down slowly and taking Lena's face by the jaw, wrapping her hand under her chin, "I promise you, you will enjoy my company, mon Cherie."

"Mon what?" Lena gulped, clueless and startled, feeling like she should pull away but at the same time feeling if she did she'd face some kind of consequence. In one fluid movement, the taller girl moved forward and pressed her lips against Lena's. The shorter girl's hair stood on end as the new sensation made itself known, sparks flew for a split second and a sickening jolt of shock followed…

Amélie slowly backed away and stood up very straight, "You will call me anytime between tonight and Tuesday night." And with that she nodded to Angela and Mei, wished them a good day, and walked away with her hands behind her back.

A full 30 seconds passed in which Lena turned back and stared down at the table, looking at her lunchbox, her eyes wide, processing what had just happened. Angela looked horrified for a moment, wondering how Lena would react. There usually was no telling with Lena…

"W…well." Mei said nervously, "That happened."

"Lena?" Angela asked nervously, reaching out to rub her back, "Lena are you okay?"

"Sure!" Lena said in the calmest voice either of the other girls had ever heard from her, "I'm just great…"

"Some first kiss." Mei muttered.

"Wasn't my first kiss, but it was my first kiss with a girl." Lena pointed out, folding her hands, "How…the fuck…am I going to get out of this?"

"Tell her you already have a date?" Angela suggested.

"I don't have anyone I could do that with without it being weird." Lena replied, running her hand through her hair, "Fucking hell."

"Lena!" Angela scolded.

"I'm sorry! I just…." Lena shouted, biting her lip, "I don't know if I liked that or not!"

Mei tilted her head in confusion and Angela pressed her lips together, waiting for Lena to continue.

"It was…weirdly nice?" Lena muttered, touching her lips with her fingertips lightly, "It felt like…it was sweet and like she was trying to tell me something, but it wasn't coming out through her words. It felt like a sp…"

"What?" Angela asked, rubbing her shoulders.

"A spider bite. She bit my lip really soft. I could barely feet it."

Mei turned red and Angela nearly broke out into a fit of laughter, "A spider bite? Is that the best way to describe it?"

"I don't know!" Lena said, blushing a light red, "SHUT UP!"

The rest of the school day, Lena seemed off and distant while Angela went about her day. It was strange to hear silence from Lena on any given day. Angela had to start a few conversations first, which almost never happened. Angela couldn't help but think that it must have had some kind of intense impact on Lena to get her to be so quiet for so long. She repeatedly asked Lena if she was alright to which the girl would respond with either a shake of her head or a thumbs up or a light grunt.

At the end of the day, Angela was packing her things, getting ready to leave when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned to face Ana from the nurse's office. The two had a short conversation about Fareeha and how she was going to need tutoring in Algebra. Ana went on to tell Angela how Fareeha had went out of her way to visit her mother in the nurse's office, telling her that Angela had helped her. Ana pulled out a ten dollar bill from her pocket and held it out with a smile.

"If you continue to tutor Angela in Algebra and her grade rises, I'll pay you for your service." Ana said lightly.

"Oh, Mrs. Amari!" Angela replied, shaking her head, "I can't take your money! I'll keep tutoring Fareeha because I want her to get good grades!"

Ana took a moment to think, placing the money back in her pocket, "How about we discuss something I could do for you in return on Wednesday at the game?"

Angela nodded her head and smiled, extremely thankful for her generous gesture. She told her that she would see her on Wednesday and turned to leave after giving her a tight hug. Lena seemed to have already left, Angela furrowed her brow in concern. She would have to call her that night to check on her. She noticed Amélie standing by the water fountain looking almost invisible. It was amazing how she managed to look unnoticeable while being so tall. Angela moved across the hallway to stand next to her, "Hey."

"Hello." Amélie replied immediately, "I assumed you would want to come and speak with me."

Angela narrowed her eyes in confusion, then sighed and said, "Look. I want to be honest with you: I want the best for Lena and she was really sort of…affected by what you did at lunch today. I don't want anything bad happening to my friend…"

"Do not worry." Said the tall girl, "I simply wanted to make a statement. She understood it clearly, no?"

"No…I mean yes!" Angela stuttered, "Look, as her friend, I just need to make sure you don't intend on doing that again anytime soon…taking her off guard or whatever. Okay?"

"I understand." Amélie said flatly.

Angela went to say more, but she decided against it, leaving Amélie near the water fountain. As she stepped out of the school, she spotted Fareeha as Fareeha spotted her. Both simultaneously waved goodbye to each other as Fareeha stepped onto her bus.

The autumn day was crisp, and the air smelled clear and clean with an earthy accompaniment of wet asphalt and rainwater. Angela adjusted her backpack and pulled out her cell phone from her pocket to check the time. As she went to check her texts, she didn't notice Lena following close behind her until she was halfway home. Angela had begun singing absentmindedly to herself, happily looking at a picture of Fareeha on her phone that she had taken at the roller rink before putting it back in her pocket. She whistled and kicked some stones on the sidewalk while Lena watched her.

"Angela?" Lena whispered.

The blonde let out a startled shriek and nearly fell onto the road.

Lena grabbed her and pulled her back closely to her, "OH Jeez, Angel cakes. I'm sorry!"

"Don't DO THAT." Angela gasped, leaning into her and hugging her tightly, "I thought someone I didn't know had been following me home and was about to attack me."

"HAH! You know I'd never let that happen." Lena giggled, "Plus it's in the middle of the road in broad daylight. Come on let's get you home."

"Are you feeling better?" Angela asked as the two continued down the sidewalk, side by side, holding hands.

"A little." Lena answered, shrugging, "I didn't know what to think of it. I was trying to think of what to do about her. It was all really fast."

Angela nodded her head in agreement, holding Lena's hand tighter.

"Want me to kiss you too so you can make sure that those sparks aren't just with Amélie?"

Lena went quiet for a few seconds, then turned to Angela and took her face, getting on her tip toes to give her a tiny peck on her lips.

Angela broke away and stared at Lena in slight surprise. Lena narrowed her eyes and looked back at Angela…

"Well I mean…that was lovely, but no sparks." Lena said thoughtfully, "Maybe I didn't kiss you for long enough. Let me try again."

"NO!" Angela laughed, pushing her away and beginning to run, looking over her shoulder.

"WAIT!" Lena cried dramatically, chasing after her with both arms out, "Let me smooch you!"

"NO! LENA! Oh my god!" Angela shrieked.

"Come heeeeeere!"

"Oh my god you're so creepy Lena NO! Don't grab my shirt!"

"I was aiming for your bra!"  
"AUGH! STOP!"

"NEVER! I will receive my kiss! You know you can't outrun me, Zeigler!"

Wednesday came around after an uneventful Tuesday. Fareeha came by to say to hello to Angela and Lena at lunchtime the day before, and there was no contact from Amélie much to Lena and Angela's relief.

Fareeha was waiting for Angela in the cafeteria that day, flipping absentmindedly through her Algebra book, two soda's beside her and an empty seat saved for Angela. When she entered the room, she saw the setup and hurried forward, happy to see Fareeha again.

"Good morning!" Angela smiled happily.

"Hi there." Fareeha greeted her, standing up.

Angela loved that whenever she would enter a room or be anywhere where Fareeha was, she would stand up to greet her. The shorter girl reached out and fixed Fareeha's collar gently, placing her hand against her chest for a fraction of a moment before moving behind and around her to her chair. Fareeha wished she would have kept her hand there for a bit longer.

Both girls began their time together. Fareeha had lots of questions and Angela had many answers. The taller girl admired her for her intelligence and ability to explain problems with ease and in a way that Fareeha could understand and apply with a little practice. Fareeha zoned out and found herself watching Angela's lips while she talked and explained a problem.

"And so you take the…Fareeha?" Angela noticed that her temporary student wasn't looking at her book. She then noticed Fareeha's eyes…

"Mmm?" Fareeha asked, tilting her head, her eyes soft.

"Are you okay?" Angela asked, suddenly feeling very drawn towards her. There was something about how Fareeha was sitting then…something alluring. She bit her lip and smiled. Fareeha leaned forward slightly and realized what she was doing, snapped out of it a second later, and reached forward to brush some hair out of Angela's face.

"You have a bit of hair." She said.

"O-Oh!" Angela giggled, putting the piece of hair behind her ear, "Thanks! So let's try number four again."

"Angela…" Fareeha said, her voice lowering significantly and into a sort of whisper. She put her arm over her Algebra book so that Angela would look at her face. Fareeha knew how to seduce someone, and Angela was no challenge…but it became a very hard one when Angela slowly lifted her beautiful blue eyes to look up at her with an involuntary shy, suggestive expression that made Fareeha very nervous.

Angela had been around her new friend enough to know when she was being serious or asking a question about math and Fareeha had never seemed more serious than she did then. Angela looked her head on, her stomach dropping and her heartbeat speeding up. Lena, from across the table, looked over her book, mentally forcing them together even closer. It was very apparent to everyone around them that they liked each other a lot. Their body language was clear as day.

"You uh…" Fareeha began, but stopped herself, "I have to ask you something, Angela…"

"Call me Angel." Angela replied, smiling affectionately.

"O..Oh." Fareeha said, beginning to openly blush. Angela saw this and began to blush as well in surprise…was Fareeha nervous? Did she like her back? Was she at least crushing on her? It could have all been very true. Questions swarmed in Angela's head while Fareeha calmed herself down.

"Well, Angel." Fareeha said, leaning forward even more, putting an arm behind her and resting it on the back of Angela's chair, "You-"

The school bell overhead cut through the conversation with a sudden loud ringing. Fareeha jumped in her chair and Angela began to laugh. She had gotten herself into such a vulnerable spot with Angela that the loud noise scared her. Fareeha laughed as well and ran her fingers through her hair, reaching out to close her Algebra book.

"Whatever you had to say, you can say tonight, after the game." Angela giggled, reaching out to place her hand over Fareeha's. She leaned very close to her and placed a sweet kiss on her cheek, receiving a small hint of the scent of her skin around her neck. She held the kiss just a bit longer…

"O-Okay." Fareeha said as Angela backed away. Her hair smelled lovely…

Angela sighed quickly and stood up, bringing her first period books with her, Lena followed after her friend, looking over her shoulder at Fareeha, making wild hand gestures and trying to tell her to finish what she was going to say before class. The football girl shook her head sadly. Looking away, she put her chin in her hand, not worried about getting to class on time. She had to make this special somehow. She didn't exactly know how she would do it, but telling Angela she liked her in the cafeteria before school wasn't the right time. Fareeha had to wait until the moment felt right. She hoped that she could ask Angela out at the game that night…that was the best idea she had.

"You smooched her." Lena said to Angela as they walked back to class, "Why won't you smooch me?"

"Oh stop it." Angela sighed dreamily, "She was so cute. I wonder what she had to say."

Lena looked over her shoulder to see Fareeha dragging herself out from the cafeteria looking very frustrated.

"I really don't know." Lena said, sighing, "It seemed to be important. She got very close to you."

"Mmm...yeah. It was probably a secret or something!"

Lena let Angela think whatever she wanted. She hoped that Fareeha could bring herself to tell Angela how she felt soon or else Lena would lose her mind. The slight sexual tension between the two was nerve wracking. As Lena walked back to class next to Angela who was as placid as ever, she went back to the scene of Fareeha and Angela in the cafeteria. In her memory, Lena noticed small details about the moment that she found extremely obvious. How could Angela not notice how attracted Fareeha was to her?

In Angela's mind, meanwhile, the possibility of Fareeha liking her at all, much less the physical attraction that was very much there, was almost impossible. It was a too-good-to-be-true thought process which usually ended with her just accepting that Fareeha was just being really nice and cute and nothing more.

Lena noticed Amélie by the water fountain and looked away, hiding behind Angela.

School went quickly that day. Everyone knew that the football game was right after school and they looked forward to it. Usually, football games were an excuse for everyone to mess around in the bleachers after the school day, and not pay attention to the game much at all. Everyone loved to watch Fareeha, however. She was so daring in all of her plays. If he had the ball in her hands, most likely someone was going to get run over or jumped over. She was very entertaining and everyone loved cheering for her.

Fareeha's mind wasn't at all on the football game…

When the final bell rang, everyone burst out into the hallways with excited chatter. Angela and Lena stayed close together in the hallways, both of them frantically looking around for Amélie. Lena hadn't taken it upon herself to call the strange girl and wanted to avoid her at all costs. She told Angela that she had seen her by the water fountain earlier and Angela shook her head.

"Maybe you should just go home." The blonde said.

"Hell no." Lena replied, squeezing Angela's hand, "I wanna hang out with you. And anyway, if I go home, I'm afraid she'd show up at my door and try to kiss me again."

"Is that so bad?" Angela teased, nudging her.

"YES." Lena shouted, "Let's just go out to the bleachers. Maybe we could find a spot where we can hide…"

Angela laughed gently, "I'm going to be down by the field with Ana today. I'm a medic's assistant, remember?"

"Oh yeah, that's right." Lena sighed, "Well…I'm gonna have to face this sooner or later."

Angela shook her head up and down and followed Lena out the front doors and toward the football field. The rival school had already arrived and was waiting in and around busses in the parking lot. Angela waved to a few of them and some waved back. As the girls approached the field, Lena noticed Amélie standing by the bleachers, facing her with her arms crossed.

"Turning around…" Lena said in a strangled whisper.

"No, let's just deal with this. You have to be up front about it, okay?" Angela insisted, "I'll be right beside you."

"If she goes in for a kiss, smack her." Lena said in a sort of half serious joke.

There was a decently long walk to reach Amélie and Lena did everything she could to avert her eyes, even though she knew the girl was staring at her hard. Angela did the same. Neither of them could look at her in the eye and the awkward walk seemed way longer than it actually was. When the two approached the taller girl, they stopped for a brief moment and Lena cleared her throat.

"Amélie…." Lena began.

The girl's eyes narrowed.

"Uh…"

Angela sighed awkwardly.

"I uh…" Lena said nervously.

This was a mistake, Angela thought.

"I was busy with homework…." Lena tried.

"I know you are lying." Said Amélie.

"Well I mean…" Lena said, rubbing the back of her head.

Amélie sighed and lowered her head, "I understand."

"No no…" Lena said, putting a hand to her chest, "It's not you…"

"If it is not me, then who?" Amélie asked, rolling her eyes, "Certainly not you."

Lena blushed and Angela looked at her friend oddly.

"I must be insane." Lena sighed, rushing forward in a split second impulse decision. She took Amélie's face in her hands, stood on her tip toes and pressed her lips against hers. Angela's eyes widened and her jaw dropped again. This time Amélie slowly put her arms around Lena's waist and the energetic, naturally tense girl relaxed, putting her arms around Amélie's neck.

Angela stared on with discomfort, bordering distress.

Lena slowly let go and continued looking at the taller girl's mouth…

Amélie stared down at her.

"Oh…" Lena said sweetly, smiling.

"For goodness SAKE!" Angela shouted, throwing her arms in the air.

"What?" Lena shouted, removing herself from Amélie's arms, blushing furiously, "Come on, come on." She grabbed Angela's arm and began dragging her toward the bleachers.

"BUT!"

"ANGELA SHUT IT!" Lena ordered.

"ExcUSE ME!" Angela hissed in a frustrated whisper, "Who was the one who told me to smack who if she kissed you. I should have smacked YOU instead!"

Lena dragged her all the way to the top of the bleachers, sitting herself down heavily and crossing her arms as Angela sat down beside her, "Last time she kissed me, I got an idea of what she was feeling."

"That doesn't make any sense." Angela replied, frustrated.

"Look." Lena said, turning towards Angela, "Whenever she kisses me it's like…it's a completely different person. It's almost like she can't express herself properly unless she's close to you. Kissing or touching you."

Angela nodded, rolling her eyes and putting her head in her hands, "Well I mean…I don't know how to feel about her, but I trust you."

"I'm sorry." Lena apologized, "I know that must've been uncomfortable."

"A bit." Angela replied, watching as more people began filing into the bleachers, talking excitedly and finding their seats. Angela turned back to Lena who began to look distracted yet again. She smiled then, taking her hand comfortingly. She didn't know if she liked Amélie for Lena's first girlfriend, but as long as Lena insisted that it was fine, she would support her. Whoever hurt her would face Angela's wrath.

The football team began filing out onto the field and the rival school made themselves known as well by going to sit on the other side of the bleachers, making a bunch of hollering noises at the girls who ignored them. The opposing football team: the talons, moved out onto the field as well. Angela put a hand on Lena's shoulder, standing up to find Ana, "I'll see you after the game. If anything goes wrong, just call me on my cell."

"What could go wrong!" Lena asked with an innocent smile. Angela smiled back and turned to walk down the bleachers to the very front where Ana was waiting for her. The two began to talk happily together as they always did. Angela loved Ana in that she was she was an old lady with an amazingly cold and sarcastic attitude. Everything she said was either honest and caring, or hilariously joking and sarcastic.

When Fareeha walked out onto the field in her football uniform but helmet off, Angela and Ana waved her over. The taller girl jogged over and Angela stood to greet her.

"Love the shoulder pads." Angela said, reaching up to pat them.

"I know. Sexy right?" Fareeha scoffed, "Hey, ma."

"Hello, Fareeha." Ana said, nodding, "Do me proud and get out there okay? I've got your back."

"Then I have nothing to worry about!" Fareeha smiled, putting her helmet on and adjusting her strap over her chin.

"Good luck!" Angela said as Fareeha waved and began to walk away, "I'll be watching over you…"

Fareeha paused and looked over her shoulder at Angela who waved sweetly at her. The taller girl's heart skipped a beat and she waved back. That was possibly the cutest thing she had heard Angela say yet. Without a doubt in her mind, Fareeha believed her.

As the game started and the whistle blew, cheering began and the game started in intense plays on both sides. It was easy to lose Fareeha in the crowd of players but Angela did her best to watch her like a hawk, partly because she knew she had a tendency to hurt herself, and partly because she simply loved to watch her play. Whenever Fareeha had the ball, she ran with all her might and played as hard as she could.

Angela remembered Lena and looked behind her to see where she was, then forced an uncomfortable smile as she saw Amélie sitting next to Lena, holding her hand. Her friend was blushing and smiling profusely. She waved at Angela as the two met eyes and Angela waved back. As she turned back to the game, Ana gasped as Fareeha made a reckless play again, but managed to get the ball where she wanted it to be.

"That girl is going to kill me." Ana sighed, placing a hand on her chest, "I just can't figure out why she has to be so dramatic about this."

Angela laughed, "She just wants to do a good job!"

"I think she wants to kill me!" Ana replied.

The game continued on and at around the halfway mark, Angela found herself daydreaming. Her mind went to what she wanted to eat for dinner tonight, then it made the connection to her feelings about Fareeha and put her in the daydream as well. Angela began thinking of what she might look like in a tux or a suit at a fancy dinner. And then her mind trailed to what she might look like under her football uniform and…maybe without a shirt on. She smiled dreamily and her leg bounced absentmindedly as she began to think of how wonderful hugs from her must be…she was so tall and strong. It must be warm too.

As she began to think about what Fareeha's lips felt like, she suddenly heard a loud shout and the opposing school's cheers went quiet. Angela's school was already quiet on their side, making worried noises. Angela looked up in alarm and saw Fareeha on the ground, under another player. As the opposing team member slowly moved off of Fareeha, both Ana and Angela stood up in a panic and began to run. Angela bolted ahead of Ana and fell to her knees beside Fareeha, immediately reaching down and undoing the strap around her helmet, taking it off, and throwing it to the side. She put her hand on Fareeha's face that was twisted in intense pain. She brushed the sweaty hair out of her eyes.

"Angela…" Fareeha said through clenched teeth, "I think my arm's broken."

"Call me Angel." Angela said again, reaching down to touch her arm. Fareeha winced sharply and Angela jumped, afraid she had hurt her.

"Looks like you dislocated your shoulder." Ana said beside Angela, getting down to her knees beside her daughter, "Again, you do this to me."

"Again?" Fareeha asked, tears of pain rolling down her cheeks, "Is that all you have to say?"

"…Other than that? Hmm…Angela, go run and get a wheelchair for me, okay? We're gonna take her back to the room upstairs where I have to reset her shoulder."

"Oh god." Fareeha sighed, "Well isn't this great."

"Hush." Ana said, "Calm yourself."

"I'll be right back." Angela said reassuringly to Fareeha, and ran as fast as she could off the field and past the crowds. She pushed her way through the heavy school doors and rushed into the office to grab the foldable wheelchair that was always there. She fumbled with it nervously, then tucked it under her shoulder, running back out with it. Many people in the bleachers were surprised to see that Angela could carry something heavy like that under her arm. Lena looked on with worry.

Ana was already helping Fareeha up. The more weight that was put on Fareeha's shoulder, the more she cried out and gasped in pain. Angela winced with every little jerk or sharp intake of breath from her dear Fareeha. She hated to see her in any kind of discomfort. Angela set the wheelchair on the ground and opened it, helping sit down, careful of her shoulder. She knew that dislocation pain got worse by the minute, and she knew that a further tear in her ligament would require something much more than a reset of her shoulder. Ana gestured to the coach to continue, and Angela began wheeling Fareeha off the field and into the schools parking lot, and finally into the school doors.

Fareeha tried looking over her shoulder back at Angela but she couldn't. The intense pain was enough to keep her in her place. Angela hurried her back to the nurse's office, Ana following suit. Upon reaching the room, Angela stopped the wheelchair by the cot at the end of the room and walked around the chair to face Fareeha, "We've gotta get you out of that jersey, okay?"

"I can't lift my arms, Angel." Fareeha said, stressed from the sharp pain.

"Get some scissors." Ana ordered Angela. The blonde rushed to the back cabinet where she knew the scissors were next to a roll of binding. She took Fareeha's jersey from the front and began cutting up the middle. Fareeha tried to make a joke, telling Angela not to cut through her shirt underneath, but halfway up, Angela realized she was doing just that.

"OH god!" she giggled in embarrassment, "Oh my god I'm so sorry."

"No big deal." Fareeha replied, "You're doing a good job.

Ana noticed this and lifted an eyebrow…

When Angela was done, she made Fareeha sit forward and she slid the shirt over her arms. When she was done, she comfortingly touched her face, "Next step is we get you in the cot, okay?"

"Sure thing." Fareeha said, smiling through her pain to make sure that Angela wasn't too worried about her. When she stood up by herself however, she let out a startling cry and grabbed for the bed with her good arm. Angela rushed forward, putting her arm around Fareeha's waist and helping her onto the cot, wincing at every sound of pain from Fareeha.

"Sorry! Sorry!" Angela repeated over and over.

"It's not your fault!" Fareeha hissed through her teeth as Angela finally managed to get her settled. Ana walked over and her daughter smiled up at her, embarrassed

"I'm gonna have to reset your shoulder." Ana said to her, "Angela?"

The blonde looked at her worriedly and understood what she wanted her to do without speaking. She took Fareeha's good hand and said, "Just keep looking at me, okay? I promise It's just gonna hurt real bad for a few seconds."

Fareeha nodded, smiling sadly as she knew that no amount of comfort would make what came next any less painful…Ana positioned her hands correctly, sighed in frustration, then reset her daughter's shoulder sharply. Fareeha's eyes snapped open and she clenched Angela's hand so hard, that she let out a strained moan. Fareeha shouted in surprise as the pain shocked over her shoulder and seemed to affect the whole side of her body. She nearly blacked out but was kept awake by her mother who patted her cheek firmly.

"You're going to be fine." Ana said comfortingly, "The worst is over. Let me get you some ibuprofen."

Fareeha lay in a daze, panting and trying to ride out the intense dull aching in her shoulder and all down her arm. She turned her head to the side and closed her eyes tightly, breathing in and out steadily. Angela rushed to the sink and wet a rag with some cold water and returned to Fareeha. She pulled up a seat and leaned over her crush, brushing more of her damp hair out of her face and wiping the cold rag over her forehead. She continued over her cheeks and nose, wiping off the sweat. Fareeha lifted a hand to place on Angela's arm, appreciating the refreshing sensation.

When Fareeha opened her eyes again, she looked up into Angela's worried blue eyes and watched as she continued to wipe her face. It rejuvenated her…and something in Fareeha's chest made itself known. She felt calmed and a warm pleasure arose in her stomach. She looked up into Angela's eyes and the worried girl looked back.

"What did you want to say…" Angela whispered, hoping to distract her from her discomfort, "Earlier…"

"I wanted to…" In a moment, Fareeha knew that this wouldn't be a good time to ask her out either. She desperately fought for something to say…and she remembered the conversation Lena and she had two days ago about Angela, "I wanted to ask you what your type of girl was." She said.

Angela paused at the strange question. Now was hardly a time for that, but she assumed that Fareeha was going to ask it earlier, thus explaining why it seemed so out of topic for the moment. She began to think carefully and Fareeha watched her eagerly. Lena had promised her that she would give a description similar to Fareeha.

"I like tall girls." Angela replied, simply, "I like dark hair, dark eyes…muscly. Someone who I know could beat me up, but who treats me gently. Someone sweet and kind and whom I know I can be their kryptonite."

Angela already was her kryptonite…all she had to do was tell her so.

Ana came back with the pain medication and told Angela to go fix the medicine in her cabinet, since it was messy. Angela nodded and went to do her job. Fareeha wanted to stop her and talk to her more, but she let her go, laying back on the cot and taking the medicine from her mother.

Ana noticed something going on between them and reminded herself to ask Fareeha about it later, when she was more calm.

Fareeha and her mother went home that night while Angela trudged home alone. Lena got a ride home from a friend. All three girls laid in their beds, staring at the ceiling, confused, excited, thinking. Ever thinking.

Fareeha had some confessions to make, Angela had some thinking to do, and Lena had to decide what to do about her new admirer. All three were too tired to contact one another so they all went to sleep early. Lena picked up her phone moments before she slid into a deep sleep…then set it back down.

She would talk to Angela in the morning…she hoped she was alright.


	4. Chapter 4

Lena's alarm clock went off, blaring one of her favorite upbeat songs. Lena, who was a morning person, slowly began to hum and then eventually burst out into song, dancing subtly as she slid out of her covers and to her closet where she began looking for clothes to wear.

Angela's alarm went off and she snorted in surprise sitting up and looking around through squinted eyes. She then reached out to find her phone. Not finding it in it's usual place she leaned over the side of the bed to see that had fallen on the floor the night before. She looked so far over that she slid off the end and landed on her face, half of her still on the bed and half on the floor, still grasping for her phone that was just out of reach.

Fareeha's mom knocked on her door a series of times, then pounded, shouting at her daughter to get up. Fareeha sat up quickly in surprise, then grabbed her shoulder in sudden sharp pain. Both began shouting at each other in Arabic soon after.

Lena and Angela, once they were ready for the school day, sat at their tables, texting each other over some breakfast. They discussed the day before and both took a few moments to ask each other how they were doing. Angela was fine and so was Lena. Both girls felt better after breakfast. A new day was dawning.

Fareeha sat at the table while her mother dressed her shoulder in a sling. Ana Amari was a professional nurse, serving in the army after she was too old to continue fighting. She was just as good as a doctor and many assumed that she was just as such. She could dress any wound and would know exactly how to treat any injury, cut, bruise, or laceration with intelligence only acquired through experience. She retired from the army to stay home with her young daughter, acquiring a simple job at her school for something to do during the day after her honorable discharge. Fareeha gave her a lot of practice for minor injuries to keep her busy.

"So Fareeha." Ana said, finishing her sling, "I want to talk to you about Miss Zeigler."

"Angie?" Fareeha asked, sitting back in her chair, relaxing, "What about her?"

"Yesterday I noticed you too seeming very close." Ana began, turning and moving into the kitchen to put a kettle on for tea, "Would you like some red tea, dear?"

"Yes please." Fareeha sighed, "And…well." She didn't exactly know how to explain it to her mother. She knew she wouldn't think much of it, in fact, she knew that she would encourage it wholeheartedly, it was a matter of where Angela stood on the matter. She knew she was very fragile and if her mother knew about it, she would push her too quickly and maybe ask Angela out for her.

"It looked like you two were more than friends, hm?" Ana prodded, waiting for the kettle to warm, "You asked her what kind of women she was into."

"WELL…" Fareeha said a little too loud, tensing up, "I wanted to know because uh…she had asked me before on our lunch date…lunch MEETING and I forgot to ask her too."

"But why would you bring up such a topic when you are lying in bed with a dislocated shoulder?" Ana continued, taking cups, sugar, and a teapot from the overhead cupboard, "It just seems very unlikely that one would ask something so specific after a personal injury. You seemed more focused on her than you were on yourself."

"I'm usually like that, ma." Fareeha replied as the kettle began to whistle.

"Angela was certainly obvious about how she felt. She might like you, you know." Ana said, taking the kettle with a pot holder. She poured the boiling water into the teapot and placed three teabags into the pot. She set the kettle on the back of the stove and turned off the heat. She brought the teapot, teacups and sugar over and seated herself before her daughter.

"I'm not sure…if she likes me or not." Fareeha said, pretending to be clueless.

"You can't lie to your mother." Ana said, smiling smugly, "You like Angela…"

"Maybe a little?!" Fareeha shouted, "PLEASE ma, you can't get involved."

"So what if I get involved." Ana said, tapping the table impatiently, "You're certainly doing a slow of-"

"Ma…." Fareeha said, reaching out and putting a hand over her mothers, "Listen to me. If you respect me as your daughter, you have to let me do this on my own. You can't ask her out for me. You can't speak for me. You have to just stay out of it until I actually get her to go out with me. Do you understand?"

Ana narrowed her eyes, "…Jabān."

"MA!"

"I'm going to be dead in the ground by the time you get her on your arm." Ana continued.

"Oh for god's sake."

"No I'm serious." Ana sighed.

"I'm serious when I say you have to let me do this on my own." Fareeha groaned, "I DON'T want this opportunity to be taken the wrong way. I don't want anyone else getting her for me. I want to experience this on my own and get her on my own. I want her to be mine and mine by her choice…"

Ana grinned from ear to ear as she poured herself some tea and scooped some sugar into her cup, saying nothing. Fareeha's face and neck heated up in an embarrassed blush at her outburst. Her mother sipped her tea wordlessly and Fareeha reached out for the pot to pour her own cup. She assumed that she had said all she needed. Her mother looked very at peace, content in the silence.

"…You have it bad." Ana muttered.

"Mother, just enjoy the quiet."

"Alright, my little one."

Angela and Lena arrived at school and sat together in the lunch area before first period began. It was no surprise to anyone that Fareeha was absent. Mei took her place instead, sitting with Angela who had decided to be very quiet, playing with the pencil she usually brought when she tutored Fareeha in Algebra. It was a blue pencil…blue was Fareeha's favorite color. Lena sat back in her chair and sighed quietly. The room was quiet.

"I hope we play dodgeball in gym today." Mei said, attempting to start a conversation.

"I don't." Lena said flatly, "The last time we played dodgeball, Angela knocked me in the head with a dodgeball so hard I swear I had a minor concussion."

"Sorry, L." Angela chuckled, "You were asking for it."

"I just stuck my tongue out at you a few times." Lena defended herself, "I didn't ask for potential internal bleeding."

Mei rolled her eyes and Angela giggled.

The day began, and by second period the hours bean to crawl on. Everyone seemed extremely tired after the game save for a few excited souls who were shut down by almost everyone immediately. Lena dragged herself through the halls alongside Angela who tried to keep herself upbeat as much as she could. She was too tired to feel decent enough to be herself. It was almost like she didn't sleep at all the night before when, in fact, she fell asleep early. Lena saw no traces of the strange French girl and part of her was grateful while part of her was…slightly disappointed. She didn't know how to feel about Amelie still. Lena thought and thought for the majority of the day about what she should do. She didn't know if her feelings were positive or negative. It was a bit of both. Whenever she pictured her future partner it was someone who was a little like herself and a little like Angela to balance out her hyper tendencies. She never expected the cold, socially awkward girl to take any kind of interest in her at all.

"Lena?" Angela asked gently at the lunch table, snapping Lena out of her constant train of thought "Amélie is coming…"

"Lovely." Lena said sadly. Angela narrowed her eyes at this…was Lena bothered and sad by the situation with the tall girl? The blonde couldn't help but protectively sit closer to Lena while Mei simply kept her head down, waiting for the interaction between the two to blow over.

Lena looked up at the French girl and sighed, "Look…I like kissing you and all, but a relationship can't be just that."

Amélie nodded.

"And…I think you're nice and all." Lena continued, spitting out her words clumsily, "I'm just not interested. This is all just kind of stressing me out."

Amélie nodded again and sighed, lifting a hand to her face. She remained silent for a few moments, seeming to be thinking very hard again. Lena half expected her to write her number in the palm of her hand and insist she call her again, but instead Amélie looked at her sadly and said, "I am sorry. I'm not the best at communication."

Lena didn't say anything in return and Angela continued to protectively watch over the conversation.

"It is…frustrating." Amélie continued, shifting on her feet, "How I cannot seem to find the words to express to you how I feel. This is all very awkward from the end that wants to give…"

"Why don't you try to explain how you feel?" Lena said, standing up, "You must like me a lot to be trying so hard…"

Amélie nodded sadly and a twinge of pity hit Lena in her stomach. She gestured for Amélie to follow her back to one of the tables not many people sat at to speak privately. Angela sighed in frustration, then looked at Mei, expecting her to say something. The smaller girl shook her head. It was very stressful for Angela, watching her best friend be emotionally disturbed by someone she didn't know. It was obviously distressing Lena since she wasn't one for confrontations like that. Angela knew that more than anyone.

"I don't know if I should just tell Lena to stop trying or if I should let her go." Angela said quietly.

"I think you should let her go for a bit longer." Mei offered, "If it gets any worse from here, get involved, but for right now, it looks like both of them are trying to understand each other."

Angela nodded and smiled in thanks. She turned her head to see the two of them at the back of the room. Amélie seemed to be thinking very hard and trying to say what she wanted to say, while Lena sat in front of her, holding her hands. Lena was so kind and patient…

"So how's Fareeha?" Mei asked Angela to take her mind off the matter, "I saw you were a first responder."

"Well yeah." Angela giggled, "She's home today I guess. I think I'm gonna go see her after school. It's a bit of a walk, but I don't mind. I was thinking about baking her some cookies."

"Do you know what her favorite kind is?" Mei asked, happily.

Angela paused for a moment, thinking back to all the conversations they had recently…what was her favorite cookie? She never asked? Angela nearly slapped herself.

"I have no clue." Angela said, "I'll text her after school I guess."

"She seems like she'd like snickerdoodles." Mei said, "Or maybe peanut butter cookies!"

Angela nodded and continued to eat her lunch, thinking of Ana and Fareeha alone at home, possibly yelling at each other in Arabic about something. She thought it was adorable. She wondered what kind of cookies Ana liked too.

After lunch, Lena came back looking very flustered.

"How did it go?" Angela asked.

"She told me to meet her in her car in the parking lot after school." Lena replied, blushing, "She also told me that she was just really into me for a while and only recently worked up the nerve to talk to me. She's got social anxiety something terrible and reached out to me today…she's really very sweet, she's just constantly frustrated and looks like she doesn't care about anything…"

Angela's eyes widened as they walked back to their classes together, "All of that?"

"Yeah…I like her too." Lena said, rubbing the back of her head, "It's…I dunno, she's cute in a reclusive sort of way…"

"That's the word of the day." Angela said, hooking her arm with Lena's, "Well I'm happy you two worked something out. I'm going to see Fareeha tonight, okay? So after your inevitable make out session, text me or maybe drop by like you always manage to do. I swear sometimes you can teleport."

"Don't rule it out." Lena said, winking.

Lena didn't know if she was attracted to Amélie or not, but that afternoon would answer the question. Angela and Mei met up in the gym for last period and sat at the back of the room, talking about nothing until the gym coach approached them.

"No sitting around, you two!" She said in a thick Russian accent.

"Sorry, miss Zaryanova!" Angela said, standing, "I have a request for a game!"

"Yes yes? What is it!" she asked, looking down at the pretty blonde.

"Dogeball!"

"Aaahhhh I see what you're doing, miss Zeigler." Zaryanova said with a smile, "Targeting someone today? Hmmm?"

"More or less!" Angela grinned, "It's more like I just want to whack them for fun."

"In that case we'll just have to play then!" The gym teacher said, putting her hands together, "It's always fun to watch you destroy the other team."

And so, dodgeball was announced and Angela was the first one to be picked on a team. Lena was on her toes the entire time, being picked on the opposite team. Angela had her singled out immediately and Lena knew it. It helped that she participated in track, but Angela's eye was quicker than her feet and she nailed her right in the hip. Lena dramatically shouted, "IVE BEEN SHOT! Go on without me!" and people shoved her out of the way, her joke heard by no one but Angela.

After the game, all the girls were allowed to sit around and simply chat with one another until the final bell. Lena looked absolutely terrified, sitting in silence. As she walked down the hall with Angela by her side, the blonde watched her sympathetically.

"I hope you have fun." Angela said, smiling, "I know you will. Kissing is always fun."

"How do you know?" Lena hissed nervously, "You've never kissed anyone yet! I mean other than me that one time the other day but I don't think that counted."

"I haven't kissed anyone I LIKE yet!" Angela giggled, "Also, I kind of get the idea that it feels nice when you do it with someone who likes you back."

Lena nodded up and down and went to her locker, grabbing some chap stick. She ran her fingers through her hair and sighed deeply. She didn't know if she felt like she was walking down death row or if she was going to something very wonderful that she should be nervous for. She passed Angela on her way to the parking lot. She seemed to be texting Fareeha…

"Wish me luck." Lena sighed.

"Good luck!" Angela said encouragingly, "I have some cherry chap stick in my purse if you'd like." She teased.

"Thanks but no thanks." Lena replied, leaning against the locker, "I feel like I'm gonna barf."

"Then that's a bad sign." Angela pointed out.

"It's-It's like going to the dentist except…not? I'm expecting something GOOD, it's just…" Lena explained, gesturing nervously with her hands.

"You're just stressed out and blowing this out of proportion." Angela said softly, "It'll be okay in the end. You'll see."

"I wonder if she's gonna try to kill me…" Lena muttered under her breath.

"LENA!"

"Alright alright I'm going." Lena said, reaching out to hug Angela tightly, "I might stop by Fareeha's later if you're there, okay?"

Angela nodded and patted her shoulder reassuringly. The tiny girl moved away from Angela and continued down the hall to the parking lot, slinging her backpack over her shoulder and wondering if her breath smelled bad. She should have asked Angela for a mint…

She stepped outside and into the parking lot where she saw Amélie standing by her car, waiting for her. She swallowed deeply and moved forward, her shoulders raised and her head down, submissively. She approached the tall girl and bounced on her tip toes for a few seconds. Amélie saw how nervous she was and opened the back door of her car and gestured for Lena to get in as invitingly as possible.

"I…can I back out of this?" Lena asked suddenly, surprising even herself.

"Of course." Amelie said, closing the door, "You can do whatever you like."

Lena then felt guilty…

"Shit. Ahh." Lena growled in frustration, moving her admirer aside and sliding in the backseat of her car. She set her backpack down on the floor and looked ahead, crossing her arms. Amelie took a moment to look behind her, then she crawled in beside Lena, shutting the door. All the doors were unlocked and the windows were tinted…it made Lena feel a bit better.

Lena sighed forcefully, "OKAY! I just have to say this." She turned towards the taller girl, pointing at her awkwardly, "You're cute. I will admit that. You're kinda my type if I ever had one."

Amélie smiled for the first time and Lena fell silent, taking her hand back.

"I see you put chap stick on." Said Amélie quietly, "Were you thinking that I invited you here to kiss you?"

"Well I mean…" Lena said, a blush blooming over her cheeks, "You didn't?"

"I only wanted to talk but if you would like to kiss we could!" Amelie said, shrugging.

"NO!" Lena shouted a little too loud, "NO! I MEAN…"

Amélie sighed and reached out, taking Lena's shirt collar. She pulled her close and Lena let out a small shriek in response. The taller girl put her left arm around Lena's waist, her hand resting on her lower back, and with her right hand she ran her fingers through the back of Lena's spikey hair. The smaller girl slid into an incoherent mess then, not sure if she was afraid or enjoying herself. Amélie eyes softened as she said quietly, "You sure you do not want to kiss me?"

Lena wasn't sure. She wasn't sure if she could speak coherently either.

"I uh…you uhh…You…You're playing with my hair"

"M-hmm."

"I like that."

"Yes?"

Lena's eyes closed as the soothing sensation continued. It wasn't often that she let on to people that she liked her hair played with. It was so short that it was easily messed up and as much as she would love people touching her hair, she didn't want to look like a mess. She let Angela play with her hair occasionally, but other than that, it was a luxury she kept to herself.

Amélie leaned closer, moving Lena onto her lap. The smaller girl didn't respond, she only laid forward on Amélie's shoulder, completely hypnotized.

"You see…" The taller girl said, "I like you very much. I understand that you want to be careful in who you date. You're the kind who doesn't enjoy being tied down very much. A free spirit, no?"

Lena made a noise that she agreed.

"I will not tie you down. I may look emotionless but let my touch convey to you how much I care for you. If only for a few moments."

Lena made another noise of agreement. Amélie smiled and Lena sat up slowly. The taller girl stopped running her fingers through her hair and holding her to take her pony tail out from its place. Her hair fell free and around her face. Lena's hair stood on end and her eyes widened. She immediately looked away, lifting a hand to rub her cheek. She didn't know how beautiful she really was...

"Come here, Cherie." Amélie whispered, reaching out to take Lena's face, turning her to look into her eyes. Lena blushed and had nothing to say. It was a rare thing for her to be so stricken by something that she had no words. Lena sighed slowly and closed her eyes as Amélie leaned forward, pressing her lips against Lena's.

It was a sweet contact, gentle, careful. Lena received another spark and her head felt light. Amélie continued to play with her hair and Lena sighed through her nose, tilting her head and kissing Amélie back. The taller girl leaned back against the window and Lena deepened their kiss. She shyly put her hand on Amelie's shoulder and began to shake slightly in response to this new sensation.

"Lena?" Amélie asked lightly, "Are you alright?"

"Y…yes." Lena said, "I just…it feels really nice. You're a good kisser."

"Thank you." Amélie whispered, leaning in for another. Lena accepted and lifted her hands to hold her face. She lifted her shoulders as well and their kissing became more heated. Lena was getting excited as well as Amélie. Lena let out a subtle moan and Amélie slid her hand up the back of her shirt, her fingertips brushing over the sensitive skin over Lena's back, close to her bra clasp.

"Mmm…Mon amour." Amélie purred breathlessly.

"What does that mean…" Lena asked, breaking away and allowing Amelie to kiss her neck.

"It means 'My love.'." said the older girl against her throat.

Lena nearly lost it then and there. She knew that Amelie was way beyond any sort of crush for Lena, but the way she was touching her felt way too good to be ignored. She might as well give their relationship a try…

"My love, huh?" Lena chuckled as Amelie continued to kiss her neck, "Well what should I call you, huh?"

"I'm not sure. Anything you'd like." Amelie replied, lifting her head.

"I'm not sure what I'm going to call you, but I can give you a title…" Lena offered.

Amelie nodded her head for Lena to continue.

"G…my girlfriend?"

Amelie's eyes widened and she sat back in the seat, smiling. Lena sighed and leaned forward, hugging her in confirmation. Amélie was internally overjoyed and nervous and excited all in the same emotional shift. Someone had given her a chance…and that someone was her intense crush. She usually felt nothing at all towards anyone, but Lena was the only one who could ignite those special feelings within her.

"So long as you'll have me as well." Amélie said quietly. Lena lifted a hand to rub the back of her head, smiling.

"You're very sweet." Lena told her.

"Thank you!" Ameile continued, "And you are sweeter still."

Lena leaned forward, that wry look on her face that Amélie had always loved, "For French being your main language, you're very good with your words when you get comfortable with someone."

The taller girl chuckled, "Yes…And I have thousands of words for you, my love."

"Oh dear god." Lena said, a shiver sliding up her spine at the same time Amélie rubbed her back.

Angela, meanwhile, was finished making her cookies for Fareeha. Double chocolate was her favorite, and lucky for her, Angela had extra cocoa powder in the pantry. As she pulled the cookies out of the oven, setting them on the cooling rack, she paced to the other end of the room and got on her tip toes to reach up into the cupboard, pulling out a container. When the cookies were cool enough, she placed them in the small box and sealed the lid, grabbed a jacket, and began her long walk to Fareeha's.

The sun was beginning to set, and Angela was sure it would be late at night by the time she got to Fareeha's home, but she plunged on anyway. Baking the cookies took longer than she expected but Fareeha was worth it, and she enjoyed chocolate as well. She walked up the street at a fast pace, humming to herself.

About halfway to her destination, Angela noticed that the sun had nearly set and she began to wonder where Lena was. It wasn't like her to be gone for so long. Her phone had been silent for about two hours. Angela debated on whether or not she should check in on her. She didn't want to ruin a moment so she decided against it eventually and kept moving. By the time she reached the front door of her destination she was tired and sleepy. She lifted a hand to knock on the door.

She waited for a few seconds, listening to someone shuffle up out of a chair and hurry to the door. Ana poked her head out and fixated on Angela.

"Angela?" the woman said, smiling happily, "What are you doing out here at night? Please come in!"

"Thank you!" Angela replied, walking in and giving her dear friend a big hug, "I walked over here with some cookies for you both. They're Fareeha's favorite!"

Ana patted her shoulders, smiling in absolute joy. Fareeha had chosen well. After her last girlfriend, she needed someone like Angela. Angela pulled up the lid to the container for Ana and the woman leaned down to smell them…

"Ooohh, those are good." Ana said happily, "May I have one?"

"Of course!" Angela said as if it were the most obvious answer in the world, "I didn't make them all for Fareeha!"

Ana put a hand on Angela's back, moving her towards the stairs as she took a cookie from the box, "Fareeha's up in her room. Sleeping or doing whatever she does when she's alone." The woman said, "If she is sleeping yell at her for me, okay?" as she finished, she took a bite out of the cookie, standing very still while Angela watched on, hopeful.

"Angela, did you try these?" Ana asked.

"N…no!" Angela said, nervously, "I guess I forgot to…I tested the batter before I put it in the oven and it tasted okay though…does it taste alright?"

"These are possibly some of the best homemade cookies I've ever eaten." Ana replied, "let me have another, Fareeha doesn't need all of them. You said it yourself."

Angela laughed, smiling happily, holding out the box for Ana to take whatever she wanted. The woman took two instead of one and shooed her upstairs, going to the fridge for some milk. Angela hopped up the stairs, excited to see Fareeha. She stopped in front of her door and knocked three times.

No answer.

The blonde waited for a few seconds, tapping her foot. Nothing.

She knocked again to no answer from inside. Half out of worry and concern and half out of impatience, she opened the door silently and poked her head in to look around. Fareeha's room smelled like her; earthy and clean with a personal scent that made Angela's ears grew hot. After she processed the wonderful smell, she noticed a lump on the bed turned away from the door, covered by blankets. Angela stifled a laugh.

"Fareeha?" Angela asked, stepping inside and closing the door behind her, "Fareeha? Are you awake?"

"M…Hm? Mom?" Fareeha stirred, lifting her head slowly and lifting her good arm to rub her eyes, "I fell asleep on my arm again. Could you grab me some pain killers?"

"If you tell me where they are I can." Angela offered, stepping further into the room.

Fareeha opened her eyes fully and saw who was speaking to her…

"ANGEL?" She gasped, jumping and scooting herself to the edge of her bed, standing up out of respect, "Oh my god I'm a mess. When did you get here?"

Angela giggled, "Hey! You called me Angel! And you're not a mess. I just got here a few minutes ago!" She closed the space between her and Fareeha and she sat down on the bedside, patting the seat beside her. Fareeha who was nervously trying to make her hair look presentable with one hand, sat down as well. Angela reached out to take her hand, rubbing her thumb over Fareeha's knuckles calmingly.

"I made you some cookies…" She comforted her gently.

"Oh!" Fareeha said in surprise, "THAT'S why you asked me what my favorite kind was! And you just walked the whole way over here too. Just to give me cookies?"

Angela nodded up and down, "I put a lot of love in them." Angela opened the container and held it out for Fareeha to take one. The taller girl reached past the box instead to take Angela's shoulder, leaning forward to give her a hug.

"Thank you for coming to see me." Fareeha thanked her.

"You're…welcome." Angela said, her stomach dropping. She put her arms around Fareeha's back and lifted her head over her shoulder. As loose and as slightly awkward as the hug was with Fareeha's arm, Angela felt her heart flutter in absolute pleasure. Fareeha leaned back and immediately went for a cookie but Angela, thinking on her feet, grabbed the box and held it away from her.

"I think I deserve a kiss on the cheek for the effort." Lena teased.

Fareeha tried not to look obviously shaken by the immediate idea of kissing her lips as well as her cheek. Fareeha smiled and leaned forward to kiss Angela's cheek softly. She found that she couldn't back away. Angela opened one eye curiously and Fareeha backed away slowly but looked at her mouth, her lips still parted…

"FAREEHA!" Came a yell from Ana down the staircase.

Both girls jumped in shock and Fareeha laughed nervously before shouting so loud Angela jumped again, "WHAT, MA!"

"DID YOU TRY THOSE COOKIES!?"

Angela covered her mouth, laughing as Fareeha rolled her eyes exaggeratedly and sighed, "NOT YET MA!"

"THEN WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?"

Fareeha bristled and ran to the door, opening it again and slamming it as loud as she could. Ana was silent. The taller girl sighed and rubbed her face, "That usually works…" Angela giggled and set her head in her hand, watching Fareeha in adoration. Fareeha couldn't handle how cute she was…

"So." Fareeha said, snapping her fingers, "Let's try those cookies."

"Double chocolate." Angela said proudly.

Fareeha sat down on the side of her bed heavily, and then reached down to pick one up. As she took a bite, she stopped chewing for a second, turning to look at Angela who was watching her with her hopeful blue eyes. The cookie was one of the best Fareeha had ever eaten. She didn't know why that made the blonde so much more attractive to her than before, but it did.

She sighed deeply and continued to chew, "Oh my god."

"You like it?" Angela said excitedly, clasping her hands together.

"Ohhhh my god." Fareeha sighed, shoving the rest of the one she had in her hand into her mouth. Angela burst out laughing and Fareeha continued to eat, muttering, "Holy shit."

As the two caught up together, talking happily about their day, Fareeha noticed that Angela was in a very very good mood. She was very animated with her hands, talking about Lena and Amélie and what they were possibly doing. Fareeha explained what it felt like to dislocate her shoulder, Angela wincing at the description. When Fareeha had finished with the cookies, saving a few for later, the blonde offered to get her some pain medication for her arm that still felt sore. Fareeha told her where the medicine cabinet was and Angela hopped up to do her duty.

When she had figured out what pills to grab, her phone in her pocket began to vibrate. She rushed back in, handing Fareeha her medication, then picked up the phone, seeing that the call was from Lena. She answered it eagerly.

"Hey, Speedy McGirlKisser." She greeted her, "Where are you?"

Fareeha nearly choked on her drink that she used to take her pain killers, laughing through her nose as she swallowed.

"I like that." Lena sighed in a calm voice, "Call me that from now on. Amelie and I will be at Fareeha's in a few minutes."

"Cool! We have cookies here!" Angela said.

"Bonus!" Lena said, her smile obvious on the other end, "I'll see you in a few minutes."

Angela hung up, stood and turned to Fareeha, putting her hands on her hips, "Well…Lena and her make out buddy are coming by."

"Awesome." Fareeha smiled, "Let's go out and wait for them. Help me up!"

Angela stood her up and held her hand as she lead her out into the night. There was a lamppost by the street, and it illuminated the small area around them. The warm light that came from the house behind them created a strangely romantic mood. Fareeha leaned against the lamppost and rubbed her neck, looking at Angela who had stopped at the end of the sidewalk and was peering down the street. Should Fareeha say something? The taller girl bit her lip and forced herself to say something.

"You know…" Fareeha choked, sounding like she had just swallowed a frog, "Your cookies are really sweet…just like you."

Angela slowly turned her head to look up at Fareeha who looked like she had just been stabbed in the back. The shorter girl noticed with confusion that Fareeha's eyes were avoiding her own and her body was as stiff as a board. Angela smiled shyly.

Fareeha mentally kicked herself over and over. That was the cheesiest possible thing to say to someone. Why couldn't she have said something like how she was gorgeous? Why couldn't she have said that her eyes look nice in the light of the lamp? Fareeha leaned against the lamppost harder, salvaging her most recent thoughts for something to say, "Did anyone ever tell you that you have gorgeous eyes?"

Angela's heart rate elevated at the word gorgeous, and she hid her face involuntarily, turning away from Fareeha and staring down the suburban back road, wondering what was happening.

"No no…" Fareeha said, coming close to her, "Don't hide them. They look really nice in the lamplight."

Angela slowly turned her head to look back to Fareeha who smiled awkwardly, lifting her good arm to scratch her cheek.

"Fareeha…" Angela said, her words catching in her throat…

"Yes?" The taller girl said quietly, her eyes half closing, moving closer. Angela stepped forward more as well and Fareeha tilted her head while Angela turned her face away again.

"Why do you keep looking away?" Fareeha asked wanting to reach out and hold her cheek.

"This is…" Angela sighed, laughing nervously, "What does this mean?"

Fareeha stood up very straight then and looked beyond Angela. What did it mean? What was she doing? She stepped back and sighed through her nose.

"I just admire you is all." Fareeha breathed, scrambling for anything to say.

Angela was searching for anything in her voice that would confirm her suspicions, "Were you trying to tell me something?"

"I uh…" Fareeha said, lifting a hand to rub the back of her head, "You…"

Angela's blue eyes were hypnotizing…so hopeful and prying. Fareeha sighed slowly, her shoulders slumping, feeling her chest grow heavy with the weight of the truth. Angela reached out her hand to take Fareeha's, standing close to her again.

"You can tell me anything, you know." Angela said invitingly, the lamplight illuminating her face.

"M-hmm." Fareeha hummed, her lips pressed together tightly. Why was she clamming up? Why?

"I admire you too…" Angela said, wondering what Fareeha was trying to get across.

"Yeah?" Fareeha asked, her eyes flicking from Angela's eyes to her mouth for a split second. Angela caught it and blinked, processing things, desperate for her feelings to be confirmed. Fareeha reached out slowly, fighting her nervousness. She put her arm around Angela's back, drawing her close. Angela placed her hands against her chest and she looked up into her dark eyes, blushing hard. Fareeha began to lean down slowly…Angela's lips were already parted for her. She was ready…

All at once, something made Fareeha lift her eyes just a bit to see her mother watching them like a hawk from the window. She seemed to be gesturing wildly. The sharp, startling honking of a horn sounded a little ways down the road. Angela and Fareeha tore themselves away from each other, distress in both of their eyes, immediately replaced with embarrassed, nervous giggling. Angela lifted a hand to cover her face while Fareeha leaned back against the lamppost, breathing deeply in and out, realizing that she had been holding her breath.

The car rolled up and parked beside the two girls. Lena shot out of the door and grabbed Angela by the shoulder's mouthing, "Oh my god I'm so so so sorry. Oh my god."

Angela smiled and relaxed, shaking her head and hugging her tightly. Fareeha watched the exchange and looked to Amélie who had seemingly manifested herself beside the lamppost. There was an awkward exchange:

"Heyya." Fareeha said.

"Bonjour." Amelie replied.

Lena let go of Angela and put a hand on her shoulder, patting her, telling her through simple eye contact that they would talk later about what Lena had accidentally interrupted.

"So…" Lena said, turning around, and smiling at Amélie, "I guess I'll see you tomorrow!"

"M-hm." The quiet girl nodded, smiling. Angela watched with interest as Lena and Amélie approached each other and kissed sweetly, Lena standing on her tip toes and Amelie placing a hand on her waist. When they let go, they smiled at each other, and Amélie left without another word. Lena watched after her dreamily, waving as the car turned the corner. Angela and Fareeha looked very confused at one other, momentarily forgetting the moment they shared.

"So?" Angela asked, stepping forward.

"She's perfect…" Lena sighed.

"Perfect?" Fareeha asked, genuinely confused.

"You felt like you were walking to your doom when you went to hang out with her today." Angela pointed out.

"Okay, well, that was before we finally just talked it all out and I realized that she's a misunderstood total freakin' sweetheart." Lena insisted before stopping for a moment and remembering what she had interrupted. She felt guilty…

"Well I'm glad things worked out that way." Angela said, taking her hand.

"Let's go inside." Fareeha suggested, the chilly weather beginning to make them all shiver, "We can finish the rest of Angela's cookies!"

"Oh my god I'm starving." Lena gasped, rushing up to the door and shouting as she disappeared behind it on purpose, "I hope they're chocolate whatever they are!"

Fareeha and Angela were left out in the cold, facing the house. The two girls looked immensely uncomfortable and both of them couldn't meet the other's eyes. Angela wanted to continue but she knew it would be wrong to pry. She didn't know what Fareeha felt towards her, she didn't want to assume. Also, Lena was there…it would be impolite. Fareeha knew that again, it was the wrong time to confess anything. Before had been a perfect moment but things changed. She sighed deeply and said, "We'll talk about what happened later, okay?"

"Yes…" Angela said sadly.

"Don't be sad…" Fareeha protested, "I guess you have an idea of what I was going to say?"

"W-well…through the stuttering I gathered somewhat of an idea." Angela smiled, looking at the sidewalk, "You're sweet."

"I uh…" Fareeha muttered again, feeling how awkward things were, "I just uh…"

Angela shook her head and began walking toward the house while Fareeha stayed directly where she was. This was it: now or never. She didn't want things to be awkward between them. She didn't want Angela thinking she wasn't brave enough to show her that she was worth it. She didn't want to be the bumbling girl she was in truth, completely opposite to what everyone thought of her. Fareeha had enough waiting. If then wasn't the right time, Fareeha had to make Angela want to wait for the right time…She reached out to take Angela's hand as she stepped up the porch stairs.

The girl turned, her eyes wide and hopeful.

"Angela…" Fareeha began.

"Call me Angel." Angela whispered.

And there it happened again, Fareeha began to lose her nerve.

Not this time.

She fought against it, trying to find clarity, reaching out with both arms to take Angel by the shoulders. Without another word she leaned down and pressed her lips against the corner of her mouth, not directly on the lips, but just slightly off of them. Angela's eyes instantly shut very tightly and she remained stone still, her mind spinning. Fareeha let go and looked into Angela's eyes, "I hope that-"

Angela, in a daze, shook her head, sending everything she hoped and suspected and dreamed to oblivion, throwing her arms around Fareeha's neck, hugging her tightly.

"You're so sweet!" Angela laughed, "God, you're such a sweetheart!"

Fareeha was completely confused.

Angela, in her deliriousness, had of course taken into account what all the obvious behavior could have meant. She had thought and thought for the past few minutes and her conclusion? Fareeha was trying to express herself in a friend sort of way since Fareeha loving Angela back would be too much of a stretch, right? Fareeha was, after all, a bit socially awkward, she was most likely just being sweet…

Angela let go of Fareeha and opened the door for her to go inside.

Fareeha looked shocked. She couldn't help but think that Angela was somewhat insane. She turned her head to notice her mother and Lena looking from the window looking equally as confused and frustrated. Lena gestured hurriedly for Fareeha to come in. The taller girl looked back and smiled nervously at Angela, slipping past her. Lena rushed out from the kitchen, grabbed Fareeha by the arm and practically threw her into the other room and out of earshot.

"What did I tell you?" Lena hissed, "WHAT DID I TELL YOU?!"

"You told me to be obvious and I WAS." Fareeha insisted.

"Apparently you weren't obvious enough!" Lena muttered, pacing back and forth.

"I kissed the chick so close to her mouth you could consider it an actual, direct mouth to mouth kiss…w-what more do you want from me?!"

"I don't know, I'm sorry." Lena sighed, rubbing her face furiously for a moment, "That was just the most frustrating thing to watch."

"Okay but for two seconds think about how I feel." Fareeha whispered angrily, "You get to go out and make out with some girl in the back of her car like its nothing, and I can't even achieve the simple task of getting my feelings across to a cute girl." She lifted her hands to cover her face in frustration at the opportunity lost, "I wanted the moment to be right…"

"You'll find the right moment." Lena comforted, stepping forward to pat her arm, "I'm sorry. I know that must've been frustrating."

"Like you wouldn't believe." Fareeha sighed sadly, "Her eyes…"

"You have it bad, dude." Lena laughed sadly, "here, think of it this way now. Any time from this point on would be a good time. Once Angela figures out that you feel the same way about her, everything will be fine. Right now, she's just being absolutely clueless because the idea of you liking her too is impossible."

"How is it impossible?!" Fareeha wrung her hands.

"It's just Angela." Lena explained, "She's always been that way when it comes to people. She doesn't expect people to like her romantically so when they do, they have to be completely and painfully obvious. She's never had a boyfriend or girlfriend before."

Fareeha sighed again, "What, is that some kind of mental disorder?!"

"I don't think so…" Lena replied, thinking for a moment, "It might be? I'm not sure. I just know firsthand what that…feels like…when she does that to you…" She trailed off.

The taller girl lifted an eyebrow as she noticed a slight, pained expression on Lena's face. It only took a moment for the two girls to connect in a way that they never would have expected.

"You…" Fareeha said, narrowing her eyes.

"I loved her too, yeah…" Lena said painfully, "It uh…obviously was easy to drop since she's clueless. But uh…for a long while I had a crush on Angel. How could you not?"

Fareeha smiled sadly, "Yeah…"

"Look. Don't ever be too nervous." Lena said in all seriousness, "You know how sometimes straight girls have a hard time processing feelings from a girl who likes her because she thinks they're just being naturally affectionate without any double meaning? That's Angie. You'd think that I'd be able to get my feelings across to her, but no. I'm just like you. Probably even worse when it comes to communicating romantic feelings. I got over Angela eventually and it took a while, but I realized that with someone like Angela, I would be constantly struggling to express to her how I felt, and I didn't want her to ever feel like she wasn't worth it."

Fareeha felt like her own thoughts earlier were being repeated. Lena shook her head, "I just recently found someone with the same problem and we sort of…figured out a way to communicate properly without words."

The taller girl felt like she wanted to cry. Lena perked up a moment later and patted her on the shoulder, "The moral to the sob story is: don't wait any longer than necessary. If it feels right, grab her, tell her in a really just painfully obvious way how you feel about her, then kiss her over and over until she finally figures it out…"

Fareeha nodded as if she were acknowledging a commanding officer. Lena smiled affectionately and said, "You got this, you massive lug." Both of them exchanged a look and went back into the kitchen where Fareeha was appalled to see Ana staring very hard at Angela who was eating a cookie from the box with her head down. She knew it was killing her mother to not say anything…

"SO!" Fareeha yelled, clapping her hands together, and distracting her mother's attention, "You guys up for a movie?!"

Angela and Lena agreed and Ana heaved a gigantic sighed in absolute frustration. Fareeha rushed Angela out of the room and into the living room where they decided on what movie to watch. Angela fell asleep on Lena's shoulder halfway through the movie and Fareeha looked on in jealousy. Lena looked at her apologetically and reassured her that she didn't feel much of anything anymore for Angela. Fareeha nodded and continued to watch the movie wordlessly until it was over.

Ana's mom offered to drive both Angela and Lena home that evening to which Lena agreed and Angela sleepily nodded her head. Both girls waved goodbye to Fareeha who stood at the door, looking miserable. Angela couldn't help but feel something down deep in the pit of her stomach. She felt like she was missing something. What if what Fareeha had done earlier was actually advances and Angela had decided to be oblivious…

It was too late to change things now she guessed. She went home that night, thanking Ana graciously before hurrying upstairs, passing her mother who sat at the table, sleeping. She hopped into bed and found a comfortable position under the covers, but she couldn't bring herself to fall asleep. Frustratingly on the edge of sleep all night, Angela thought and thought about Fareeha and what she should have done differently.

Lena fell asleep easily that night.

Fareeha stared at the ceiling, wide awake. She was so unbelievably frustrated with herself. It almost felt as if she were being rejected when that wasn't the case in the slightest. Was it supposed to be this painful? She picked up her phone and texted Angela at 3:30 in the morning.

"Can I talk to you tomorrow at school?"

Angela opened one eye as her phone buzzed. She sat up and opened the text. She yawned and rubbed her eyes, jumping to attention to see Fareeha wanted to speak with her. Angela then had a realization in the pit of her stomach that she did the completely wrong thing and she missed an opportunity that night. She let the feeling dawn on her and she sighed deeply. She sent a text back: "Sure thing, Fareeha, what is it?"

"We need to talk about tonight." Fareeha said, "I…just really need to talk to you in person. I have some things to say."

Was Fareeha mad? Angela felt a boiling dread in her stomach and she replied, "I'll listen to whatever you have to say."

Fareeha replied with a simple "See you tomorrow" text and Angela rolled over onto her back, terrified that she might have made her crush angry with her for being blind. Angela rubbed her eyes again and tried to get some sleep. She knew that tomorrow would bring something that she might not want to face.


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Hey everybody, I'm here to apologize for updating so late AGAIN. I've been having so many issues with relationships lately and I just broke up with my gf so I just...obviously haven't had much motivation to do anything. But I pushed this chapter out because YOU GUYS DESERVE IT and I love all your feedback and nice messages. I'm gonna be uploading a separate nsfw Pharmercy thing soon so look out for that!

"Listen Angela," Fareeha said exhaustedly, "I love you, I want you, I need you. I have to have you in my life. I wanna hold you every night and kiss you awake every morning. I want to take you to prom and I want to make cookies with you and kiss you until you can't remember your own name. I love you Angela. Please be mine."

Lena took a long draw from her pop can, "Again."

Fareeha sighed loudly and began again, "Listen Angela, I-"

"Yes?"

"AUGH!"

Fareeha, Lena, and Mei all jumped in surprise and Amélie sat stone still, watching Angela who had approached from behind all of them. Angela looked guiltily immediately at Fareeha and sat down beside her silently. Lena looked at Fareeha and Fareeha met her eyes. The table was silent.

"Good morning, Angela." Amélie said, breaking the silence with a calming tone.

"Hello Amélie!" The blonde greeted her, "How are you this morning?"

"Ahh…Tired. Definitely not looking forward to Algebra class."

Amélie turned her head to look at Fareeha directly in the eye. The football player looked back in confusion, and then she suddenly realized what Amélie had set her up for. The fellow senior had noticed that Fareeha would feel awkward starting a conversation with Angela alone, and she somehow knew that Angela helped her with Algebra.

"OH! Speaking of Algebra…" Fareeha said, sending Amélie a smile of thanks, "I had a few questions."

"Well. I'll help you later." Angela said sitting down beside her and lifting a hand to put some hair behind her ear, "I need to talk to you first."

Lena and Amélie looked at each other and Mei felt like a 5th wheel.

"I have to talk to you too." Fareeha said, rubbing the back of her neck, "About last night…"

Angela looked at everyone sitting around them, then leaned forward and whispered in Fareeha's ear, "Should we meet after school or…"

Fareeha didn't want to wait any longer but she didn't feel like it was a good time to talk in front of Lena and Amélie and poor Mei who seemed clueless, yet entertained nonetheless. As much as she wanted to shout how much she truly cared about Angela, she nodded simply and looked away…

Angela paused and then turned her head to look at Lena who seemed to be staring murderously at Fareeha.

The football girl noticed Lena and wracked her mind with something to say to make the situation less awkward. The fact that Angela wasn't continuing her clueless behavior must have meant that she had fully understood the situation on her own, without anyone's help. Fareeha WAS as obvious as she could manage to be in such a short time. She wanted to tell Angela that everything was alright. She wanted to tell her that she understood her. She wanted to say so many things, but she couldn't help following her gut. Now wasn't the right time.

The bell rang and everyone at the table except Amélie let out a heaving sigh. Angela and Fareeha looked at each other and Angela felt herself draw into herself slightly as Fareeha looked as she did when she first began talking to her: Aloof. Like she felt nothing for her. Fareeha didn't mean to look like she didn't care…it was a personal defense mechanism to put everything out of her mind.

Fareeha stood and left the room before anyone else. Angela hung back and looked at Lena helplessly.

"I swear." Lena said, "BOTH of you are absolutely-"

"Lena, hush." Amélie stepped in, stepping between the girls, nodding to Angela "Have a good day, Angela." She took Lena by the arm and hurried her out of the room before the eccentric student had a chance to say anything more. Mei stood beside Angela and watched her face as they left the room together at a slow pace. It was distressing to see the normally bubbly girl so forlorn.

"Opportune lost, I guess." Mei said quietly.

"No…we're talking later." Angela said, "It's just that…I feel like we just backpedaled. She opened up to me the day after we went roller blading and every day last week and this week it's just been a blur. A happy rush. I KNOW she likes me but I think I messed it up, Mei."

"How?" The younger girl asked, afraid she was overstepping her boundaries.

"I pretended her feelings didn't exist." Angela said quietly, shrugging.

Mei, who didn't know Angela as well as Lena, took a moment to think to herself. She took Angela's hand, "You probably didn't do it on purpose." She concluded.

Angela smiled sadly. She really didn't, but that fact didn't erase how she made Fareeha feel.

Lena, ahead of them was steaming. Amélie leaned down to kiss her cheek lovingly, "Lena, dear. You can't force them together, and you can't make them confess to each other any faster. I am aware that sitting back and watching things happen isn't exactly your way of going about things. Listening and waiting is for the better, even if it makes you uncomfortable."

Lena looked up at her girlfriend and sighed slowly, "You're right, Amélie…" Lena took her hand and knitted her fingers with hers, "You always seem to be right."

The taller girl smiled, "Spending most of one's life listening to conversations instead of being involved in them makes one strangely wise in how to handle certain situations."

"I guess that makes sense." Lena said, quietly, "You're the best."

Amélie grinned happily.

School always was slow, but today seemed to go quickly for Fareeha. She occupied herself with formulating everything she was going to say to Angela. It would work this time, she was sure of it. Her classes seemed short, and as much as she tried to pay attention, her mind would always go back to Angela, creating a sort of speech in her head about what to say. She would have written it down on paper if it weren't for the people that seemed to insist they be around her so much every day. Amélie who was also a senior, sat next to her often and the two had small conversations here and there. Small talk but nothing more.

Angela, however, was tired and worn down and sleepy. She listened as she always did, but appeared to have a lack of motivation. Fareeha had distanced herself from her, and Angela felt disheartened. Lena attempted to cheer her up a few times, and Angela mustered a smile or two, but a few minutes after she would just sink back down into her nervous demeanor for the day. Lena was on her own in Algebra class.

When lunch rolled around, Angela and Fareeha caught each other's eye as they both were about to sit down. Fareeha gave her a comforting smile and Angela sat down feeling slightly better than she did before. She didn't know how to interpret the look. Was Fareeha just taking pity on her stupidity? Was she smiling because she felt bad for her and her cluelessness? Lena frowned as Angela didn't seem to be eating much.

"Angela." Amélie addressed her from her place beside Mei on the other side of the table, "Would you like to tell us what's wrong?"

Lena rubbed her back and Angela let out a bitter, stressed laugh.

"I don't know what we're gonna talk about." Angela said in truth, "I don't know if she's gonna tell me I'm stupid or if she likes me or maybe both."

"One or the other, things will work out." Lena reassured her, "You guys have something…she'd be stupid to throw that away."

"It's not so much her throwing me away as it is the idea of being told you're stupid by someone you love."

"…You love her?" Lena asked quietly.

Angela bit her lip and lifted a hand to rub her face. Amélie looked at her in the eye and Angela realized that the girl looked placid and calm more than she looked unnerving. The older girl had a sense of peace about her that traveled to Angela in those few moments and both girls had an understanding.

"I guess I do." Angela said, looking at Lena, "And I'm nervous, but whatever happens I'm going to be okay. It's not the end of the world."

Lena patted her back happily and Amélie nodded. Fareeha had recited what she was going to say for the fifth time as she finished her sandwich.

In study hall, Lena let Angela play with her hair.

When the final bell rang, Angela sat in her seat until everyone was out of the room, including the teacher. When she finally left the room on her own, people in the halls were thinning out and walking away, quiet the only thing remaining. She turned the corner to walk to her locker. In a spark of what she could only identify as a mixture of dread and the nervous jitters, she approached Fareeha who was standing against the locker beside hers.

The taller girl let her open her locker, memorizing her padlock code…

Angela hurriedly put her books on the upper shelf, and shoved the books she needed for homework over the weekend into her backpack. Finished, she slung one side over her shoulder and shut her locker door and looking up at Fareeha awkwardly.

"You have everything?" Fareeha asked.

"Yep." Angela replied, "So...what did you want to say?"

Fareeha slowly reached down and took Angela's hand and lifted her fingers to her lips. She kissed the side of her thumb. Angela turned red. Fareeha turned her head and kissed the pad of her thumb…and she kissed her pointer finger next, then her index finger and finally she ended with kissing the palm of her hand. Angela was a mess.

"There…" Fareeha said letting go of her hand, "Six reasons to know that I enjoy being around you."

Angela opened her mouth to say something but Fareeha stepped forward and stopped her from talking by lifting a finger. She paused, then reached down to her pocket and answered a subtle vibration on her phone.

"Yeah? You're ready? Okay…" she hung up with whoever was on the other end, and placed it back in her pocket, taking Angela's wrist and guiding her through the hall and out into the parking lot where Amélie was with her car.

"Oh no, you didn't…" Angela began.

"Yep! Amélie agreed to be our chauffer for where we're going."

Angela giggled as Fareeha sat down in the backseat of the car, and gestured for Angela to sit in her lap. The blonde did as she asked and she put her arms around Angela's neck and rested her head on her shoulder while Fareeha placed an arm around her waist, holding her in place.

Amélie already knew where to go, and so she left the parking lot without a word. Angela and Fareeha were silent in the back of the car for the short ride. Fareeha watched Angela, smiling and Angela was beside herself, hiding her face in Fareeha's neck and smiling nervously. She knew they were okay then and there…but…

Amélie stopped the car outside of a familiar restaurant. It was where Fareeha took Angela on their first meeting together. Angela opened the car door, thanked Amélie graciously before following Fareeha inside. They ordered the same thing they had last time, but Fareeha ordered their food to go. While they were waiting for their food, Angela rocked back and forth on her feet.

"So…" the blonde tried.

"Sh." Fareeha smiled, her eyes shining, "I have somewhere else to show you before we talk."

Angela nodded curiously now. She debated on whether or not she should try to hold Fareeha's hand. Eventually, she slid her hand down her arm and knitted her fingers with her. Fareeha received a pleasant jitter up her spine.

She and Fareeha exited the restaurant a few moments after receiving their food, and the taller girl began walking in the opposite direction of her house. Angela became confused and rushed up to her, having fallen slightly behind "Fareeha we-"

"Just follow me!" said the football girl, beginning to jog. Angela began to get slightly frustrated as she followed her, saying nothing as she had asked. She ran after Fareeha, and stopped when she did, then ran again. After almost ten minutes of walking in silence, they approached what seemed to be a massive hill, trailing over the side of the road. The view behind it was hidden by several trees.

Angela watched Fareeha hurdle herself over the guard rail, with her box of food in one hand. The shorter girl went to do the same, but before she could begin to vault herself over, she felt two strong arms lifting her over by her waist. Angela thanked her and Fareeha grinned, very happy with herself. It was almost too satisfying to see the nervous, yet hopeful cluelessness on Angela's face.

When Fareeha lead her to the other side of the trees, Angela nearly fell over the side of the hill they were standing on. Around them was a clearing where the hill ran down in a deep grassy slope to the edge of a pool. It was a small lake, or maybe it could be considered a large puddle of sorts, but it was in the grass. There was no shore. The water pooled at the bottom of the incline and melted up over the blades of grass. Beyond it were trees as far as one could see.

"How did I not know this was…here?" Angela managed.

"I found it one day when I was walking alone." Fareeha said, sitting down in the grass and opening her box, "Let's talk."

"Finally." Angela sighed, sitting down heavily and opening her box as well, "Please let me go first, you've be shushing me all day."

"M-hmm." Fareeha said, biting into her sandwich.

"I…like you." Angela heaved. Fareeha stopped chewing, "And I'm sorry that it seemed like I sort of swept you under the rug last night. I promise you it wasn't anything voluntary." She turned her head away and took a bite of her food, "It's just that…whenever I find someone I really really like, they always have to be really obvious around me or else I just won't understand. I know I can be frustrating. The truth is: I like you so much…I might even…"

Fareeha swallowed a little too early and tried to keep from coughing.

"Are you okay?" Angela asked, feeling at least ten pounds lighter with the weight of the truth off her chest.

"FINE! I'm fine." Fareeha coughed, patting her chest, "I'm okay because I have something really important to say to you too."

Angela took another bite of her sandwich and watched in anticipation as Fareeha pulled a mint out of her pocket and began to open it discreetly. The blonde's eyes opened wide in realization and she put her sandwich down, swallowing a little too early as well, wishing she hadn't taken such a huge bite. She desperately tried to wish away the taste in her mouth. Fareeha had a second thought. Maybe it was too early…so she continued to eat her sandwich and Angela looked at her in slight annoyance.

Fareeha noticed this and stopped mid bite.

"What?"

"Were you going to kiss me?" Angela asked…

"Was I?" Fareeha said nervously.

"It…I don't know." Angela shrugged and took another bite of her sandwich.

Fareeha looked and her sandwich, then at Angela…

Her heart began to pound as she realized she couldn't wait any longer. It had been a week of near sexual tension and finally being with the one who she knew she had wanted to be with for a long time. She was sitting just beside her…asking if she was going to kiss her. Fareeha set her sandwich down in the box, set it aside, and leaned over to Angela to take hers. She placed it down in her box and grabbed her face, turning her towards her without any resistance at all.

"I love you." Fareeha gasped flustered, forgetting what she and Lena had practiced that morning in the cafeteria, "And I want to love you for as long as you'll have me. I thought about you so much even before we stated talking and I wanted to get to know you but I wasn't sure if you were the one for me." She took a deep breath, "…Until I saw your eyes…" she tilted her head an Angela tried to look away as she normally did but Fareeha held her in place. Angela lifted a hand to place over Fareeha's.

"M-my eyes?" The blonde asked, completely hypnotized.

"Yeah." Fareeha said, her chest feeling light as she leaned closer still, "You were sitting by yourself in the bleachers while mom was away. You were studying or reading a book and you looked up sometimes. I saw your eyes…they looked exactly like the sky." She ran her fingers through Angela's hair and the blonde lifted her hands to put around Fareeha's neck, bringing her down as she laid in the grass. Fareeha positioned herself over Angela where she was leaning down, her chest pressing against hers but her lower half was off. Angela was redder than she had ever been in her life and Fareeha was breathless, looking down into Angela's eyes, the sun reflecting off the irises and making them look almost purple in the early setting sun.

Fareeha continued, "They're so expressive and honest and…I've felt a comfort with you like I've never felt with anyone else."

Angela put some hair behind her ear and Fareeha placed a hand on her shoulder, the other on her face.

"You…" Angela sighed, "You're…"

Fareeha couldn't wait any more. Now was the right time. She leaned down…

At the worst moment possible, a sharp ringing sound broke the spell. Both of them jumped in alarm and Fareeha reflexively let out a frustrated growl and stood up while Angela scrambled with her phone to turn it off. It was her mother…she felt like she should have answered it but at the moment, Fareeha was more important to her. She would call her after. Angela hurriedly put the phone in her pocket and rushed to the taller girl.

"Fareeha!" She called.

"What…No I'm sorry. Can we-"

Angela paused, marched backwards a few paces and then ran as hard as she could, jumping into Fareeha and knocking her down with a light thud. Fareeha looked up at her in surprise as Angela whispered breathlessly, "I love you too. I love you more. I love you too!"

Fareeha's heart stopped as Angela leaned down and finally captured her lips with her own. The world stopped around them and went still. Fareeha felt Angela's hands holding her face and her heart resumed its beating. The October chill couldn't touch them. Angela slowly let go, opening her eyes to see Fareeha opening hers as well, looking equally as dazed. There were sparks, but very subtle ones. There didn't have to be fireworks. Both of them knew that it felt so right that the sparks didn't even need to ignite.

Fareeha sat up and caught Angela's lips with her own again and put her arms around her, holding her tightly while Angela stroked her cheek and lifted her shoulders in a sudden flurry of giddy chills that ran down her spine. Fareeha tilted her head, kissing her deeply, both girls began to get excited, Angela shivering. Their kisses slowly began to heat up as Angela wanted to test with tongue. Fareeha was the first to let out some kind of moan and it came out so incredibly girly that Angela broke off the kiss and looked at her. The look on Fareeha's face made Angela freeze. Her eyes were dark and needy, looking at her lips as soon as they parted.

It was an almost magnetic pull that forced them together again, Fareeha leaning Angela back against the grass, putting a hand on her waist. Angela explored Fareeha's mouth with her tongue and Fareeha kissed her back harder. Both girls began to let their hands roam. Angela's fingers tangled themselves in Fareeha's thick, dark hair and Fareeha slid her hand slightly under Angela's shirt to feel her skin. The dazed blonde sat up for a moment to undo her hair tie and let her hair fall around her shoulders. Fareeha received a familiar ache below as Angela looked at her expectantly. The smaller girl let out a pleasured gasp as Fareeha pushed her back against the ground again.

After a few minutes of this, both broke away, panting and excited. Fareeha's hair was messy and Angela's was as well. Both girls came together again for a sweet and gentle kiss before parting for the last time. They had said what they needed and done what they wanted. All was well, and both girls were put to rest, their anxieties soothed and that aching to be with one another satiated for now.

"So…." Fareeha said as Angela rested her forehead against hers, "Everything's cleared up now?"

"I should say so." Angela answered, kissing her nose, "Promise you won't go to the army when you graduate this year?"

Fareeha smiled and kissed her on the lips sweetly, a warm happiness washing over the both of them.

"I'm not going anywhere." Fareeha replied gently, "We have a lot to do together this year…I'm in no hurry to leave with a girl like you by my side."

The two continued to hug each other until they realized that they were both very hungry. Their food was slightly colder but it didn't matter in the end. They sat close together as they ate, talking about nothing just as before, but both felt more open with one another. It was after they had finished eating that they decided to go see a late night showing of a movie.

Sitting in the very back, both of them hardly paid attention. Angela rested her head on Fareeha's shoulder and the taller girl couldn't have felt happier.

"Hey." Fareeha whispered halfway through.

"Yes?" Angela smiled, lifting her head to nuzzle her cheek.

"I like you a lot."

"I like you a lot too." Angela whispered back, kissing her lips gently, "I can't wait to tell Lena."

* * *

Meanwhile, Lena rolled over off of Amélie on her bed, panting in excitement and exhaustion. The taller girl sat up and licked her fingers smugly, leaning over her girlfriend who had since become naked all but a half an hour ago.

"Well now I know what they mean when they say that you can top someone from the bottom." Amélie said reaching down to pet Lena's hair, "You sound so cute when you're about to lose it."

Lena tried to catch her breath, smiling up at Amélie in a daze.

She pointed out desperate to match her partners confidence, "You're cute when you're about to lose it too."

Amélie smiled and laid beside Lena, her head on her shoulder and an arm under her breasts, holding her close. Sex, for the first time, was always clumsy and a bit awkward. The two were no exception, but for Amélie it seemed somewhat natural. Lena was a bottom who insisted on being a top no matter what, and the taller girl truly didn't have an issue with it. She welcomed it. She loved seeing the skinny girl shake and moan until she couldn't hold herself up anymore. She was surprised that she was able to stay on top, propped on her hands and knees while she orgasmed for the first time.

"You're…wonderful." Lena sighed dreamily.

"You're amazing." Amelie replied breathlessly. Before, while Lena was being pleasured by the older girls' fingers, she insisted that she try to do the same, and both ended up making each other climax through just that. Both girls had taken the next step together quickly, and they wouldn't want it any other way. Right before Lena was about to say something else snarky, her phone on her nightstand vibrated. She reached over lazily to see who had contacted her and to her immense pleasure it was Angela.

"Amélie! Look!" Lena sat up excitedly, holding out her phone for both of them to read the text:

"Well we got together finally. It's a bit of a story. I'll have to tell you later, but for now I'll tell you that she is a really really good kisser. We'll drop by in a bit! Is Amélie there?"

Lena turned her head to wiggle her eyebrows at the taller girl who rolled her eyes in reply and lowered her head to rest against her chest. Lena replied with one hand that they were together and waiting for them to come by. Angela told her that they would be there in a just a few minutes.

The shorter girl reached down to run her fingers through Amélie's thick hair as she set her phone down.

"You should wear your hair down more often." She suggested.

"Maybe I will if you like it so much." Amélie sighed, nuzzling into her chest as she felt Lena's thin fingers beginning to gently tug the knots free.

"I like everything about you so much." Lena said affectionately, "And as much as I'd like to keep looking at that flawless ass we need to get dressed because Angel and her lady love are coming by."

Amélie sighed through her nose and sat up, crawling on top of Lena and kissing her teasingly before sliding off of her and grabbing her clothes that had been hastily shed on the floor a while ago. Lena laid on her side and watched her, looking her up and down with a look on her face that made want Amélie to do it all over again. Instead, she reached down and grabbed Lena's panties and threw them at her face.

"Stop looking at me and get dressed!" She laughed.

"Promise you're staying with me tonight?" Lena asked, sitting up with her panties hanging over one eye

"What will you do if I refuse?" Amélie questioned teasingly.

"I will…touch your butt." Lena proclaimed.

"Oh…I'm terrified." Amélie monotonously giggled, "I guess I have no choice then!"

Lena fist pumped and Amélie, again, rolled her eyes at her ridiculousness. It was one of the many reasons why she found her so alluring. She was so childlike, but at the same time she knew how to take the right things seriously.

Fareeha had gotten Angela into a laughing fit by the time they reached Lena's home. Angela was wiping tears from her eyes and Fareeha was laughing herself, overcome with a need to make as Angela happy as possible. Angela at the same time felt the same way, and she found that laughing at all of Fareeha's jokes and silliness made her smile and laugh too. It made them both so undeniably happy to see the other enjoying themselves.

The football girl absentmindedly put her arm around Angela's shoulder and held her closely as they walked for a few moments, Angela putting her arm around Fareeha's waist. They saw Lena's house in the distance and the blonde thought for a moment, broke away from Fareeha's arm and turned on her heel.

"I bet you a night at my place I can beat you to the door."

Fareeha's heart nearly leapt out of her chest.

"A…n-night at your place?" Fareeha asked in a stutter.

Angela took a moment to figure out how suggestive that sounded, and a smile tugged at her lips as she realized that she subconsciously knew what she wanted to imply.

"Yes…A night at my place. All to ourselves…" Angela said, her voice lowering, "Would you like that?"

Fareeha felt herself losing every possible reply to that question as Angela crossed the space between them, reaching up to run her thumb over Fareeha's lips, taking her chin in her hand, "You're so cute when you get all quiet and nervous…I should take that as a yes?"

The taller girl lost control and reached down to bury her head into Angela's neck, sliding her hand down her back and into the back pocket of her jeans. She began kissing the warm skin of her neck lightly, Angela letting out a surprised sound that made Fareeha halt, a new, strange, almost primal and predatory feeling coming over her and collecting in her lower belly…

"F-Fareeha!" Angela gasped, "Not now! Ohhh…not now. As much as I'd love for you to continue we're out in the open, remember?"

"SORRY!" Fareeha apologized, backing away and rubbing the back of her neck awkwardly, "You don't know how long I've wanted to do that honestly."

Angela lifted a hand to run her fingers through her hair, "W-well…if I beat you, we spend the night at my place."

"If I lose?" Fareeha grinned, knowing she wouldn't.

"We spend a night at your place." Angela whispered.

Both were delightful options and Fareeha nodded, rubbing her hands together and assuming the running position. Angela laughed, mockingly mirroring the same stance. Fareeha did the countdown and as they began to run, Fareeha reached over and scooped Angela up, holding her bridal style, running as fast as she could as Angela shouted and laughed, demanding that she put her down.

"This is hardly fair!" Angela cried.

Says you!" Fareeha replied, reaching the front door and spinning her around, setting her down lightly and kissing her forehead.

Lena opened the door even before Fareeha could knock and in a moment of realization, Angela recognized that Lena's hair was messed up a great deal than normal…much more than normal. She looked past her to Amélie who was staring directly at her. As Lena and Fareeha whisked themselves away into the other room, talking animatedly about what had happened, Angela stepped inside and closed the door behind her.

Amélie felt slightly uncomfortable in the sudden tense presence, "…May I help you?"

"…Take care of Lena, okay?" Angela said immediately, "I know what you guys must have just finished doing. Know that Lena is in this for life now, and you will crush her if you don't figure out that she's wonderful and worth keeping. No matter how many times she burps out in the open…really loud, no matter how many times she embarrasses you out in public because she just thinks you're her whole world and no one's looking, No matter how many times she drives you crazy, you don't let her go."

The taller girl, ever silent, nodded and said, "Don't worry Angela…"

"Oh, I'm going to worry." The blonde said continued, "That girl is my best friend."

"I will not take that title away from you." Amélie responded honestly. Angela balked. How did she somehow figure out Angela's reason for her slight hostility even before she did? She didn't want to be replaced. Amélie nodded quietly and put a hand on Angela's back, walking with her into the room where Fareeha and Lena were grinning at each other like mad.

Both girls turned to look at Angela and the blonde felt like she needed to run from both of them, lunged at her at once. Lena grabbed her by the waist first and hugged her tightly while Fareeha paused and then wrapped the smaller girls into a huge bear hug, achieving a genuine laugh from the both of them. Angela kissed Lena's cheek as she always did and Lena whispered in her ear, "Promise me that Fareeha won't replace me?"

Angela hugged her harder and buried her face into her neck, "Nobody could ever take your place, L."

Fareeha and Amélie smiled at each other.

* * *

Near the end of the month, all of the girls had been invited to a Halloween party at a classmate's house late at night. Happy to go, Lena and Angela rushed to the costume store to see what they could find, dragging their new girlfriends with them. Fareeha wasn't one for scary masks and lots of makeup, but she did like scary movies, she just didn't like pretending that she was in them. Amélie secretly loved it and Lena automatically knew that she would. She didn't have to wear much of anything to be scary and it was easy to find a costume for Amélie: A white shirt with some black pants that ended at the knee with a black cape, and some fangs and a top hat. She made a wonderful vampire.

Angela insisted that Fareeha try on some scary rubber masks to which the girl reluctantly agreed. Nothing seemed to make Fareeha looks scary since the way she held herself and her soft eyes didn't exactly mix with the masks, even when she tried to assume a scary pose. Eventually, Angela found a glass case with a bunch of contacts on display. After a great deal of convincing, Fareeha agreed to go as a possessed person, buying a set of contacts that would make her eyes look milky white.

Lena and Angela tittered excitedly as they began to look for things for themselves. Fareeha and Amélie watched with hidden joy as the younger girls teased each other with fake cat ears and hard plastic hockey masks with blood splatters. It was only a matter of time before Lena found wolf ears and gloves that looked like paws. She could go as a werewolf, and Amélie wasn't disappointed in the slightest.

When it came time for Angela's costume, all three of them joined in to help her find something and none of the costumes seemed good enough for Angela. It didn't fit perfectly to her character like everyone else's. After a while of looking, Lena stumbled across a section that had witch costumes. She thumbed through the fabric and found one that looked moderately okay and insisted that Angela try it on in one of the changing rooms. The three waited patiently and when Angela came out again, Fareeha lost her balance on the rack she was leaning on for a second and Amélie let the fake fangs drop out of her mouth. It was a costume that left all the right places to the imagination. Not too much showed, but it was just the right amount.

"Does it look okay?" Angela asked, turning herself a bit to lift the back strip of cloth to reveal a bit of her ass, "I think it's sort of reveal-"

"I'LL PAY." Fareeha choked.

"But, Fare-"

"I'LL PAY." She repeated.

"Fareeha honey, I-"

"Here we GO TO THE CHECKOUT ISLE."

"Darling, it's still on me."

"I'll lift you up on the counter so they can scan the tag."

And so she did. It was allowed, even though the cashier gave the girls many strange looks, Fareeha carried Angela out of the store, over her shoulder to where she brought her home that day to show her mother and of course see how revealing that costume really was.

On the day of the party, everyone showed up and everyone knew that Angela was Fareeha's girlfriend officially. It was a fun party, but eventually, Angela and Fareeha began to get bored and decided to go home a bit early. Lena the werewolf and her vampire girlfriend decided to stay, waving goodbye with the promise to call later. Fareeha and Angela, back at home, decided to watch scary movies and eat some popcorn balls they swiped from the party.

Everything seemed right with the world, and it was. Angela knew that she wouldn't want to be with anyone else and Fareeha wanted to give Angela a life she deserved in the future. Both of them were sure of the months and years to come and were sure that they would face them together.

"Fareeha?" Angela asked quietly, after the second movie was over, "Do you want me to go get my costume on again?"


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Omg guys holy crap I wrote the final chapter. I apologize for the really long wait. A lot of stuff was going on in my life at the time, but it's all cleared up now! I hope to give you guys some for sure closure in this last chapter and I also want to give you some news for the next project I have going on. This story will continue as a College AU further on down the road for them. It will start soon and I have ideas for the first chapter. Until then, please enjoy the final chapter. Again, sorry for the long wait!

"She's supposed to be here soon, right?" Lena asked, tapping her foot against the floor of the airport, "She's supposed to meet us here right?"

"Yes, Lena she's supposed to be here any second. She texted me when her plane landed." Fareeha smiled, rolling her eyes and resting her head on her hand, leaning over the table.

Amélie who had tagged along with Lena for the day, rested a hand on Lena's leg to cease it from tapping amazingly fast against the floor. The tiny girl hadn't stopped worrying about Angela since she had left to tour a college in Sweden a week ago. She was an exceptional student and just from looking at her GPA, most colleges were sending applications by the tens. Angela had found a college she wanted to visit in particular and had set up a short vacation for herself and her mother just after her graduation ceremony for the Summer.

While Angela had been away, Fareeha had been working at her security job for a hospital nearby. Not being able to see Angela every day had thrown her off her sleeping schedule. She wasn't just looking forward to seeing her girlfriend again, she was looking forward to a wonderful night of sleep with her in bed beside her. She had taken a week off of work just so she could be with Angela.

Lena had been losing her mind with worry ever since Angela had left the states. She had called her and texted her every day just to see if she was alright. Amélie sat by and watched the two girls as they excitedly waited for their best friend and girlfriend. She was amazed at how loved Angela was…part of her was jealous.

Fareeha turned her head slightly to look out over the baggage claim again and she noticed a familiar head of hair, the bun high on her head, bouncing slightly as she looked for her suitcase.

"Angela!" Fareeha cried out, jumping to her feet.

Lena followed only seconds after, bolting furiously towards her. Angela turned and it almost felt like home was rushing toward her in the form of a large bulky football player and the most aerodynamic person who possibly ever lived.

"Fareeha, oh my god!" Angela shouted, running towards the both of them. Amelie smiled from the table, watching as Angela reached Fareeha first and jumped into her arms where Fareeha lifted her and spun her around before bringing her down into a warm, welcoming kiss.

"Hi, Angel." Fareeha grinned, nuzzling into her cheek, achieving a giggle.

"Hi, baby." Angela cooed, holding Fareeha's face in her hands, running her thumb over her lips, "I'm so happy to see you."

"I'M HERE TOO!" Lena shrieked from beside them, running impatiently in place.

Angela turned to her excitedly and Fareeha reluctantly let her go to allow her to hug Lena. Both girls let out a high pitched squeal as they squeezed each other hello.

"How was it!" Lena asked eagerly.

"It was amazing! But not as amazing as it could have been with the rest of you!" Angela answered, lifting a hand to place on Fareeha's cheek and hugging Lena close to her with one hand around her waist, "God I don't know what I've got until I didn't have it for a week."

Fareeha leaned down and kissed her lips eagerly, then winked and said, "I'll grab your suitcase and your mom's. Does she need a ride home?"

Angela, turning red for the first time in a week, lifted a hand to place on her cheek. She forgot how caring and chivalrous Fareeha truly was. Lena knew that look…

"Bonjour, Mon Cherie." Amélie greeted Angela from behind, making her jump.

"OH! Hi Amélie! It's so awesome to see you too." She gave the taller woman a hug, and Amélie in her ever cold disposition, broke character to wrap her arms around Angela in a tight hug.

"How was it holding down the fort for me while I was gone?" the smaller girl asked with a grin.

"Ah, it could've gone better." Sighed Amélie with a slight smile, "Lena gets restless when you're away."

"How restless…?" Angela asked, turning her head to look at her dear friend who had been hovering over her shoulder anxiously, waiting for more attention.

"Oh I might have tried calling you more than once a day." Lena admitted, "Amélie had to hide my phone."

Angela turned to the older girl and mouthed the words, "Thank you." Amélie simply shook her head and smiled.

"Okay!" Fareeha said, approaching the group with Angela's suitcase, "Your mom said that your dad would be picking her up. She's such a nice lady."

Angela felt her face grow heated again and she reached out to take her suitcase, in which Fareeha pulled it back right away. Angela and she simply looked at each other and Fareeha titled her head, smiling lovingly, letting Angela know that she would be taking care of her from then on that evening.

"Let's go, lets go!" Lena shouted excitedly, grabbing Angela's hand, "Oh my god, girl, we all met up for dinner at this really awesome place while you were gone. You wouldn't believe their burgers."

"It's really good." Fareeha added, "They have bottomless steak fries so that's a plus."

"Ooohh, bottomless, huh?" Angela giggled, "What about you Amélie? Anything to add about this amazing new place to eat?"

"…They had very good lemonade."

"…Sounds good to me!" Angela grinned, "Let's go!"

Angela was hungry, but what she craved more was Fareeha. It was the first time they had truly been long distance and the experience was hard to get used to. She knew that no matter what, eventual, possibly long term separation would have to take place in order for them to continue in their lives. She was so used to seeing Fareeha at least once, if not every other day due to Fareeha's job that being away from her and not being able to touch her was horrible. When she had graduated that summer, Fareeha had taken off of work to come to her ceremony…ever since then, Fareeha had promised to take vacation time from her job to spend time with Angela. She would have to formally greet her later and thank her for taking time off to be with her.

As they went to dinner together, Angela could hardly contain her happiness to see Lena again. She was a constant source of energy and excitement. She reminded her of a lovesick puppy, seeing their owner again after a long time. Amélie watched over her curiously, but was glad to see Angela all the same. Any interaction or conversation from Amélie was always welcomed and Angela felt special since Amélie seemed to be more talkative than usual, asking her about her vacation.

Fareeha kept watching her as they sat at a table together, Angela's ears with a rosy red color and Fareeha smiling at her. Lena watched them talk with joy in her heart. The spark between them hadn't diminished in the slightest. They were still so in love with each other that it made them both giddy when they caught each other's eye. Fareeha asked about Angela's mom and what she thought of the college visit. Angela gave her friends the details, pros, and cons, asking for council.

As each gave their two cents, Fareeha only said, "I want you to be happy wherever you go in life. If you think this place is right for you, then I'll support you."

Angela had laid her head on her shoulder and held her hand, playing with her fingers, "Anywhere with you I'd be happy."

"I'd have to come visit you, Angel." Lena said, grinning, "Imagine you and me over there together!"

"Amélie, would you visit too?" Angela asked. The taller girl who had recently taken to wearing her dark hair around her face nodded her head up and down and Lena leaned against her.

"We could always go together, mi amore!" Lena offered.

"That is, if she takes the offer and get accepted with her application." Amélie added, "But of course, I would have to get this little one to you somehow." She placed an arm around Lena and smiled softly as she felt Lena's body react slightly to her touch as it always did.

As they ate together, Lena and Fareeha shared the same sudden worry. Angela had talked about her visit as if she were going to stay at the college for a while. Neither of them wanted the girl to move away. It was truly the last thing either of them wanted. Fareeha did mean what she said about wanting Angela to be happy and that she would support her, but all she could think about as she finished her steak fries was Angela leaving again…and how said both she and Lena would be at her absence.

When all had finished their food, it came time to decide where Angela would split up for the night. Since she wasn't all too attached to her home, Angela had the choice between Lena and Fareeha. Lena was a near bursting ball of eager energy but Fareeha looked so warm, calm, and inviting. On top of that, she was the only one could give her what she had been needing…

"I'm gonna spend the night at Fareeha's." Angela announced as Fareeha left the tip, "BUT! Tomorrow, Lena, you and me are gonna go out and go do something fun okay?"

Lena reached forward and pulled her into another tight hug, "Okay, Angie. I'm only letting you go again because I love you, and I know that Fareeha can keep you safe. Please text me okay?"

"Naturally." Angela smiled, rubbing Lena's back comfortingly, "Don't worry, Lena. We can relax and be schooless, and jobless together while Fareeha and Amélie are away."

Both older women lifted their gaze from their girlfriends to look at each other, smiling sadly at the sudden remembrance that they actually had jobs.

"Okay…" Lena said, "Please be careful."

Angela leaned forward and kissed her cheek. Lena's excited energy was replaced with genuine comfort as her best friend reassured her that she would see her tomorrow first thing. Lena watched as Fareeha placed her arm around Angela's shoulder and Angela wrapped her arm around Fareeha's waist. A pang of bitter sweetness hit her in the chest and Amélie reached down to place a hand on her shoulder.

"Would you like a ride home?" The quiet girl offered.

"I'd…like to go home with you please." Lena responded.

"Anything for you, my love." Amélie responded, encouraging Lena to walk out the door to her car. The two headed off to Amélie's while Fareeha and Angela sat down in Fareeha's car. It was a used car, but it was in decent condition for the time being. The smaller girl sat in the passenger's seat while Fareeha placed herself in the driver's seat turning the key to start her car. The engine revved and not moments after, both women were staring at each other.

"I need you to kiss me right now please." Angela demanded.

"Oh god." Fareeha breathed, her face flushing, "Are…you sure you don't want to wait until we get back home? We would be more comfortable…"

"Just…something small now." Angela said, her blue eyes hypnotizing and intense, "I missed you so much."

"I-It was only a week." Fareeha laughed as she leaned over and kissing Angela slowly. Both hesitated to break the sweet connection and when they did, Angela looked into Fareeha's eyes, her own, darker with something much less innocent.

"Take me home now please." Angela whispered, "I need more…and if you give me any more I might just have to…."

"OKAY HERE WE GO!" Fareeha laughed loudly, putting the car in reverse, "I'm taking you home now!" the excitement in her stomach mixed with that all too familiar nervousness that still hadn't gone away. It didn't matter how long she would be with Angela, no matter what, the smaller girl would always get the best of her in every situation such as this.

Fareeha was so sure she would get a speeding ticket on the way home. Angela looked absolutely exhausted on top of her already heated condition and she wanted to get her girlfriend home.

Upon reaching Fareeha's house in the suburbs, Angela hopped out of the car, Fareeha rushing to the trunk to grab her suitcase and then quickly chasing after her, the two giggling like mad. Fareeha opened the door for Angela and the two rushed inside together. Angela lifted her arms to place around Fareeha's neck and as the two were about to truly greet each other, a soft clearing of Ana's throat from the kitchen door alerted the two of them.

"Oh…hey mom." Fareeha smiled.

"Hey, ma." Angela greeted her. Ever since Angela and Fareeha had officially been together and Angela started spending more time around Fareeha in her house, Ana was almost always a part of the conversations and time they had together. She was a welcomed presence, and Angela had begun to call her mom only recently.

"Hello, Angela." Ana greeted her, closing the space between them to hug her tightly. Fareeha slipped away without either of them noticing, "How was your trip?"

"Oh it was amazing!" Angela said, "The college was alright but it was an amazing change of scenery, let me tell ya."

"I'm so happy for you." Ana smiled, "Come with me out into the kitchen, dear. I just made a pot of tea. I'm sure you and Fareeha will get acquainted soon enough, but she told me to distract you when you got here for just a few minutes."

Angela tilted her head in confusion.

"She…also told me to not tell you that she wanted me to distract you, but the point of the situation is, she's getting something ready for you I think you'll enjoy. Come, rest your feet."

The younger girl smiled happily and took her shoes off, placing them by the table and sitting down slowly, letting out an exhausted sigh. Ana poured her a cup of tea and rubbed her shoulders, "You have large knots in your back, dear. I thought this trip was supposed to be relaxing!"

"Well see," Angela began, resting back against the comfortable chair, "My mother has a way of being slightly overbearing and impatient. To her, the entire trip was about the college and nothing else we did could be free of her mentioning the college…"

Ana nodded understandingly as she sat adjacent to Angela at the table, watching her as she drank her tea, her hands around the cup, eyes closed.

"Glad to have a moment of peace?" Ana asked gently.

"It's so nice to be here." Angela admitted, "I missed you too."

Ana smiled affectionately and reached out to place her hand over Angela's, "It's nice to know you think of me."

Angela smiled and took another sip of her tea, the warmth soothing her more than anything over the past week had. She looked around the kitchen and dining room, taking in the familiar sight. The sun had already set over the trees and the low light of the kitchen made her feel a comfort unlike any other.

"I'm so tired." Said Angela, turning her head to look at Ana.

"You look it." Ana replied, "Ask Fareeha for a massage, I'm sure she'd be more than happy to give you one. You know, she's absolutely determined to make your little vacation with her special. She's never been off of work before so she's going to need to get that extra energy out somehow. Keep that in mind."

"…A-Ana…" Angela lifted a hand to rub the back of her neck, awkwardly.

"No no, not like that." The older woman snickered, "I was just trying to warn you about how Fareeha gets when she has nothing to do. She gets creative with her time...in the physical sense. If you leave her alone for a while without any exercise she'll find a way to exert that energy onto something in the house. I once came back from work to find that she had rearranged the entirety of the living room."

"Whoa really?" Angela asked, thinking about how difficult that would be to accomplish on carpet…

"That was a few years ago. I was thinking about getting her some weights for her to exercise with. What do you think about that for a birthday present or something."

"That sounds perfect!"

It was then that Fareeha walked into the room with a massive grin on her face. Angela stood up immediately, drinking the last of her cup of tea and walking towards her without hesitation. She put her arms around Fareeha's stomach and placed her head on her chest, closing her eyes.

"Thanks, ma." Fareeha smiled.

Ana lifted a hand to give her a thumbs up.

Fareeha gently ushered Angela up the stairs, rubbing her back and reassuring her that she would enjoy what she had planned for her. Instead of turning the corner to enter Fareeha's room, they kept walking straight towards the bathroom.

The taller woman opened the door slowly and helped Angela inside, shutting the door behind her. The room was steamy and warm with a bathtub full of water and a towel draped over the side, a small candle resting on a small table. Angela went to speak but she was silenced by Fareeha's soft touch, her fingers sliding under her shirt.

"Let me help you get undressed."

A shiver shot down Angela's spine as she became too weak to protest. From behind, Fareeha gently moved her hands around Angela's waist and undid the button on her jeans, sliding them down over her legs and running one hand down the back of her thigh. Angela stepped out of her pants fully and Fareeha picked them up, folded them neatly, placing them on the side of the sink. She then reached under Angela's shirt and pressed her front to Angela's back.

"Are you relaxing now?" Fareeha whispered.

"Mm…" Angela hummed, taken captive by her girlfriend's gentle touch. Fareeha slid her hand further up Angela's shirt and her fingers plucked teasingly at the bottom of Angela's bra. Fareeha lowered her head and began kissing Angela's neck. Weak in the knees, the smaller girl leaned back against Fareeha with all her weight. Fareeha supported her and moved her fingers under her bra, delighting in the warmth of her skin and the softness of her breast. Angela bit her lip as Fareeha continued to kiss her sensitive neck.

The taller woman removed her hand from Angela's bra and lifted her shirt over her head, and undoing her bra strap. As the small piece of clothing slid away from Angela's shoulders Fareeha paused, and Angela turned her head to look at her over her shoulder.

Fareeha's stomach dropped instantly at a mere look from her girlfriend and she swallowed deeply, nervous as ever. Her forwardness was almost always short lived. One look from Angela and the girl was putty.

"Thank you for running me a bath." Angela said in a voice so enticing Fareeha had to bite her lip to keep from touching her.

"A-Anything for you." Fareeha responded honestly, "I want you to feel relaxed. Please get in and rest. I'll be right back, okay?"

"Where are you going?" Angela asked, turning around and exposing her body For Fareeha to see. The older girl froze up again, looking at Angela, her lips parting slightly. Angela smiled in a way that made Fareeha weak and somehow managed to penetrate her very thoughts.

"I…was going to go get you some dessert since we didn't order it from the r-restaurant." Fareeha answered.

Angela liked the sound of dessert in the tub, so she nodded and took Fareeha's hand and kissed her palm lovingly, "hurry back…"

And with that Fareeha stumbled out of the room, closing the door behind her to come face to face with her mother who looked as smug as a person could possibly be.

"…Ma…"

"Your hair is standing on end." Ana pointed out, "And you look like you just stepped out of a freezer. You're an absolute wreck, child."

"Ma, for god's sake."

"Go get her the cheesecake it's downstairs." Ana dismissed her with a chuckle, "You two are going to be the death of me."

Fareeha scoffed loudly and thundered her way down the stairs.

Meanwhile, Angela moved into the bath water and let out a sigh of relaxation as the warm water soothed her aching muscles. She had done so much walking in her hometown on top of hiking through the mountains that she barely had any time to relax. She turned her head, already missing Fareeha. She missed her more than she could have thought possible. It was such a wonderful thing to be home with her then, where things were familiar. THIS was her home more than anywhere else…with Fareeha. She had made a crucial decision while she was away that she would have to discuss with her, but in the end, she was sure that Fareeha would understand.

Fareeha drug her way back up the stairs, cheesecake in hand, looking both left and right for any sign of her mother at the top of the stairs. She slipped inside the bathroom, shutting and locking the door behind her. Angela sat up and smiled while Fareeha sighed and gazed at her, feeling as warm inside as the room was on the outside.

"Hi." Angela greeted her, the water and suds trickling down her bare chest, shoulder, and arms.

"Heyya…" Fareeha responded, melting with happiness.

"Come here, that cheesecake looks so good oh my god."

Fareeha obeyed and sat down by the edge of the tub, setting the cake at the edge.

Angela sat forward and began to eat while Fareeha tilted her head and watched her. Fareeha observed her face slowly, taking in every line, contour and feature. Angela's blue eyes flicked from the cheesecake to Fareeha every so often and she giggled, lifting a hand to cover her mouth shyly.

"What are you looking at?" She asked, her mouth full.

Fareeha shrugged and hugged her knees, "You…"

Angela smiled genuinely and set her fork on her plate, leaning forward and catching Fareeha's interest immediately, "So…listen."

Fareeha wiggled closer, making the smaller girl laugh excitedly.

"I figured out what I want to do with my life in terms of college and everything."

The excitement in Fareeha's face fell as fast as her stomach did as she listened. She had been dreading news like this; News of long term separation would undoubtedly follow. She didn't want Angela to leave her, but she knew that she would have to go through the same decision soon as well…she had to think about furthering her education…She was sure that she and Angie could make it work. She didn't want anyone else and she was absolutely sure of it. She was determined to look happy for Angela when she would say that she wanted to go back to Sweden. She had told Angela that no matter what, she wouldn't stop her from pursuing her dreams. Her happiness was the most important thing for Fareeha.

"I'm staying here."

Fareeha snapped out of her thoughts and looked at Angela in the eye. Her blue eyes, ever as beautiful and honest as they always were, shone with a love and determination Fareeha hadn't seen before.

"Fareeha I want to stay with you…"

The older women looked at her and without another word she leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. Besides the taste of cheesecake, Angela's lips were sweet, wonderful and soft: just as she remembered them. She could savor them now, as Angela could savor hers. The two kissed in the heat of the bathroom the smell of bubble bath wafting around them. Angela felt like signaling to Fareeha to take off her clothes as well but she had more to say. She broke away from Fareeha and saw the look on her lover's face and felt like crying.

Fareeha was crying herself.

"Baby…" Angela said, wiping the tears from her face with her thumb, "Why are you crying."

"I thought you were going to say that you were going back to Sweden…" Fareeha said honestly, lowering her head to cover her face but Angela held her instead, lifted her to meet her eyes.

"I want to stay with you. " Angela said again, "I want to go to medical school around here but…be close with you and get an apartment with you. I did a lot of thinking when I was away."

Fareeha's eye's widened again and Angela continued.

"I thought about if my Higschool lover should be the one to be with me for the rest of my life. I thought about whether or not I would want anyone else….or if this relationship would even last in the long run, but it turns out that, Fareeha, I LOVE you." She held her girlfriend's face tighter as she said those three words, "I really do love you."

Fareeha smiled and lifted a hand to place over Angela's as her words were more sincere than the first time they had said it.

"I love you too." Said the former football star, "I want to be with you too. I want to make a life with you in the future. I know that you're just…you're just…" Fareeha trailed off and Angela nodded for her to continue, "I'm…not as good at words as y-you are."

Angela giggled sweetly and leaned forward to rest her forehead against hers. A quiet fell over them both and Fareeha's heart hammered in her chest. She wanted to ask a crazy question. A question she knew she shouldn't ask right then and there. She didn't have the thing required to ask, even though she knew Angela most likely wouldn't mind if she had one or not. The question seemed right at the moment but would it be right for this point in their lives?

"Will you…." Fareeha started. Angela opened her eyes to look at her and Fareeha sighed softly.

"Yes?"

"Will you kiss me please?"

Angela smiled and leaned forward, kissing Fareeha hypnotically slow. Fareeha lost herself in Angela's touch and kiss. The two weren't aware of how long they kissed until there was a soft knock at the door. Fareeha let go slowly and teasingly pecked Angela's cheek and nose before turning around and asking dreamily, "Yeah?"

"Your mother has to go to the bathroom and I can't go outside in the bushes." Called Ana, "So I hate to be rude, but I've been waiting a while."

Angela giggled and rested her head on Fareeha's shoulder, giddy and happy while Fareeha rubbed her back and called, "We'll be out in a minute."

Fareeha kissed Angela's neck, making her laugh some more, nuzzling her and nipping playfully until she would stand up. Angela wrapped her in a towel and picked her up, carrying her bridal style to the door, nuzzling her cheek while Angela cooed and played with her shoulder length thick hair. Fareeha opened the door and Ana rushed inside, pushing them both outside and shutting the door behind her.

The taller woman carried Angela into her bedroom, closing the door behind her and laying her down on her bed. As Angela looked up at Fareeha who was smiling in pure joy, she unwrapped the towel slowly and looked up, biting her lip.

Fareeha paused and looked down, Angela's exposed body beneath her. An almost magnetic pull tugged at her own body and she looked up at Angela's face, a whole new level of nervousness washing over her. Angela lifted her hand to run over Fareeha's upper arm and she let out a shaky, breathless sigh.

"Do you want to?" Angela asked.

Fareeha struggled, "Y-yes…badly…"

"Then come closer and I'll help you." Angela sat up slowly and pressed her lips against Fareeha's, running her fingers through her hair and tugging at her shirt. Fareeha slipped it off and Angela undid her bra strap. Fareeha lowered her head onto Angela's shoulder, breathing hard, her heart thudding harder in her chest than it did during a final play in her higschool football games.

Angela let her catch her breath and kissed her ear, "Don't be nervous…I've wanted to do this for a long time. It's our next step together."

Fareeha lifted her head and looked at Angela's face. It was the same face she had in the car…it was wonderful and sincere and it made her stomach flip. She reached down to unbutton her pants and Angela's body language let her know that she was encouraged. Fareeha knew what she had to do, and she was more than thankful that Angela was going to be her first time.

The smaller girl needed what Fareeha had to give desperately but she knew that she would have to be patient to respect Fareeha and her nervousness. She waited until her love was fully ready.

The night from then on was one they both would never forget.

* * *

The next day, Fareeha, glued to Angela's side and Angela stuck to Fareeha's, left the house to meet up with Lena and Amélie at the local mall. Many shy, knowing glances were stolen between the two girls and whenever it happened, Angela looked away giggling while Fareeha smiled as wide as she could. Both were happy, and both had reached a new level in their relationship after the night before. They felt closer than ever, and they truthfully didn't feel like leaving the house the next morning, but Lena was very important and Angela needed to spend time with her.

"ANGELA I MISSED YOU!" Lena shouted excitedly from across a huge mall cafeteria. She was so far away that Angela could barely hear her, much less pin point the exact direction the shout had come from.

By the time Lena had crossed half the cafeteria, Angela had seen her. The tiny girl had to ready herself and Fareeha, knowing well what was coming, stood behind her small girlfriend preparing to catch her for when Lena reached her. What was funnier to the both of them was Amélie chucking after Lena who was breakneck running and jumping over tables.

"You can tell she was a track star." Angela said, stepping from left to right, her arms outstretched.

"I can't believe security isn't seeing this…" Fareeha added.

"Oh they see her." Angela said quickly, "They just know her by now. She's okay."

Lena was nearly bursting with joy upon seeing her dear friend again. She had no speed control and already saw Fareeha standing behind Angela ready to catch them both so she gave it all she had. Lena ran and jumped into Angela and they both let out a loud laugh and fell backwards while Fareeha caught the both of them. Amélie rushed up a few moments later, out of breath while Fareeha helped both girls to stand up. They began chattering excitedly to one another, leaving Fareeha and Amélie amongst themselves.

"Hiyya." Amélie greeted Fareeha politely.

"Hello." Fareeha smiled, "So what's the plan for today?"

"Oh just…cater to the little ones." Amélie smiled happily, "Lena was a sad little mess until three seconds ago."

"Because three seconds is the time it takes for her to cross a room this big." Fareeha added.

Both girls chuckled and turned to look at the two who were continuously talking. Angela had brought a present for Lena from Sweden and was currently showing her.

"She got swiss chocolates for me." Fareeha said proudly.

"How sweet." Amélie said, looking at her girlfriend, so happy to be around her best friend again. It made her slightly jealous, but she couldn't ruin Lena's good time. She just missed her dear friend and that's what it was…she was sure of it. Fareeha found herself getting a twinge of possessiveness as Lena hugged Angela tightly again, but she forced herself to think nothing of Lena's touchiness. She was always that way…

"Oh! Amélie!" Angela smiled, turning to her, "I brought you some chocolates from Switzerland!"

Fareeha chuckled as Amélie looked from her to Angela and back to her as if it were an honor to be held in such high regard to receive the same present as Fareeha. Angela wanted all her friends to feel equally as loved. Fareeha turned to Lena who was already trying one of her chocolates and smiled to herself knowing that the chocolates that Angela had gotten her had caramel inside them instead of solid chocolate.

Angela turned back to Fareeha and smiled up at her, putting her arm around her waist and pressing her side against hers resting a hand on her chest and leaning against her. Fareeha put her arm around her and rubbed her arm gently.

Amélie and Angela had a short conversation while Lena looked at Angela and Fareeha curiously. Fareeha met her eyes, smiling happily and something clicked in Lena's mind while her suspicions were brought to light. She was able to sense differences in Angela's behavior sometimes if something big had happened be it positive or negative. The way she was acting right then suggested that they had done something very important recently.

Lena reached out and grabbed Angela's shirt, pulling her lightly away from Fareeha.

"Oh Lena…" Angela asked before Lena could ask her prying question, "I…need to talk to you."

"What is it?" Lena asked, her one track mind making her impatient.

"I…decided what I want to do with myself."

A surge of fear hit Lena square in the chest. She had prayed that Angela would choose anything other than Sweden. She knew that without her best friend around her, life would be emptier. Angela was someone who she knew she would be miserable without. She depended on her, and lately she had begun to learn that it wasn't such a good thing to be dependent anymore.

"I've decided to stay here." Said Angela.

Lena breathed out deeply in relief and hugged Angela tightly, wordlessly thanking a higher power for answering her prayer. She backed away and smiled excitedly, holding both of her hands.

"I'm so so glad." She said, "Are you going to school around here too?"

"I'm going to medical school." Angela smiled, "But I'll be studying from home."

Lena laughed in excitement, elated that her friend had found something nearby instead of across the ocean. She hugged her again. Angela squeezing her tighter.

"I can't just leave you behind."

Lena received another pang of emotion. Was it sadness? Was it happiness? Bittersweet again. She knew that Angela hadn't meant JUST her...she most likely said the same thing to Fareeha and meant it more, but what did it matter? Angela was happy. That's all that was important to Lena as she hugged her tightly.

"You better not ever leave me behind." Lena smiled, "We'll talk more about that later, but for now let's have some fun. Also…" she paused and looked at Angela straight in the eye, "….did you guys do it for the first time last night?"

"LENA OXTON!"

And with that, the four continued about their day, Angela refusing to tell Lena whether or not they had "Done it" or not.

Angela and Fareeha spent a few more days together before getting to work on finding Fareeha a college while Angela waited for her acceptance letter from the school she wanted to go to to study to be a doctor. Fareeha wanted to continue with her security work, but she wanted to find something she would be good at that wouldn't require her to move around from place to place.

She stuck with construction work. It paid well and gave her reason to stay in shape.

Lena would go on to keep running, dreaming of competing in the world Olympics one day. For her active mind, she found work as a receptionist for multiple companies and eventually found a place, working for a very important scientist in the city while going to school to be a Journalist. Amélie set off to be a teacher, a French and Maths teacher to be exact. None of the girls understood why anyone would want to teach something like that, but it's what the woman wanted, and she studied hard for it.

The four always stayed in touch together, and after a while of being separated, all of them planned a reunion together at their favorite restaurant. All were well on their way to success and moving on in their lives. Everyone was happy together, and continued on with their lives, always in contact.


End file.
